Of Cogs and Teenage Boys
by ChloeRhiannonX
Summary: In a futuristic world where Robots are used as servants only one girl can't live with them. Courtney hates Robots for the way they have ruined her life. However, determined to get her life back to the way it was before, she pursues the new boy at school; not knowing that he has the deepest, darkest secret anyone could carry on their shoulders.
1. Robots

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter One**

**The Robots**

Mornings were the worst. Or, at least I thought they were, until the nights came. Then the nights were the worst. It was a bitter loneliness that made me realize that there was no one else out there. I was going to be stuck in this rut of nothingness for the rest of my life. No one else would ever understand me or what I had been put through.

"Good morning, miss." The curtains were swung back and the inside of my eyelids lit up a funny colour. I didn't want to open them and look at that thing. "It is a lovely day outside, miss."

"Well it couldn't be a lovely day inside, could it?" I mumbled in reply, not thinking about what I said before saying it, knowing it heard me either way. Super-sensitive hearing. My eyes fluttered open and I could see its smiling face through my eyelashes and sleep. It was the face that made it so realistic, I believed. If it didn't have one, it would just be another hunk of junk that I could live with. But I haven't been able to live with them since it happened.

"The mistress wishes to know if you are attending school today, miss." I blink a few times at the words. I hadn't been back to school since it had happened. I hadn't wanted to face everyone after the story was published in the newspapers. Of course everyone had heard and of course everyone knew I was involved. I was there, in the crash. I was the one in the car, I was the one who should have died, not Trent.

"Miss?" I tried to move my head to look at the damn thing, but I found my vision clouded with my own tears. It happened every time I thought about it. Three months was all it had been. Three months of nothing but lying in bed and crying every time I tried to remember why I was in bed.

"Tell her yes, I am." Robots don't understand emotions. They don't feel anything like us humans do. That's why Giorgio would never understand why I cried so much. It had been there for me. Every day it had been there for me as my parents couldn't take so much time off work. They had at first, during the first week, but had to return. Unlike me. I had ten whole school days to waste before they would phone and ask about me. My mother tried to bargain with them, saying how in distress I was. They didn't listen, and for the past ten weeks, I had simply been marked absent without a reason every school day. This was stupid, because everyone surely knew where I was. But my attendance took a toll for the worst. It should have bothered me. It would have bothered me under other circumstances. But I didn't care anymore.

The first year is always the hardest, my parents constantly reminded me of that. Not that I thought it was ever going to get easier. But once that first anniversary was out of the way, things would get better. I may even start to move on.

Nine more months.

Giorgio didn't stay in my room for long. I don't know why my mother let it stay at all. I hated the thing. I had never liked it. It used to watch me when I was a little girl. We'd gotten it shortly after my sixth birthday and it had acted as my babysitter at first. Then it was programmed to cook and to clean. It was the ideal thing to have around the house with two full time working adults and a young girl who was only in school for so much every day.

But both my parents knew what had really happened that day. They knew that the hatred I held for robots only grew stronger. Robots were pointless and stupid. But my opinion failed to go far.

That was one reason why I adored our history so much. Did you know there was a time when every home didn't have a standard issue XP 2057 model? Hard to believe, I know. We did have an old XP 2045, so I never knew life without one. But, once almost every home had one, they became standard issue and a newer model brought out again. They are always creating newer models, but none usually makes it to sales. Always bugs, always a fault. I'm sure there's a fault with XP 2057's too...

My father told me not to be so stupid, the XP 2057 were a top class model. I begged to differ. But my mother agreed with him, telling me not to waste so much time wondering what was going on inside a robot's mind. After all, they didn't really have one, and you can't understand what doesn't exist.

By the time I was ready to catch the bus, my parents had long gone. It was just me and Giorgio. It was prepping a meal in the kitchen, I was ready for school. Or at least pretending that I was. I would never be fully ready to go back to my old life. My friends would say they understood how I felt, but they never could. No one understood how I felt. I was the one whose boyfriend died because of her stupid mistake, no one else's.

"Miss." I blinked a few times, stopping the tears before the started. I looked to Giorgio who had a clear container with assorted foods inside held out to me.

"I'll get something at school." I told it, not looking directly in its direction. But I could see it hold the other hand out, showing me a ten dollar bill. I waited for a moment, moving my eyes upwards to its plain face. No emotion at all. Lifeless. Completely lifeless. It was horrible to look directly at it, so I quickly averted my gaze back down to the floor as I snatched the money away and slammed the front door behind me.

My mother was always telling me not to be so rude, to say thank you everyone once in a while and learn to adapt to some manners around the robots. I didn't understand why. Why should I show those tin cans any respect? They had never done anything good for me in life.

I was left with the thought of Giorgio earning my respect as I waited for the school bus to pull up. I leaned against the metal bus stop sign, knowing that no other student was going to show up at my stop. I was always the only one. I didn't want to catch the bus, but I hadn't been able to set foot into a car since the accident, and I didn't plan on starting now. Buses weren't much better, of course, but I had to get to school somehow. Walking was not an option for the 24 mile distance.

"Courtney!" The familiar voice called to be as soon as I stepped on board. I had missed the hugs and gossip that came with my best friend Bridgette. She had texted me a lot of times in the past 3 months, but I hadn't replied to any. My phone had been severely damaged by the water, but it still worked. I was just pretending it didn't.

I took the seat in front of Bridgette and her boyfriend, but she carefully climbed over to sit beside me. I was fully engulfed in a loving embrace before the blonde haired girl started telling me how much I had been missed and asking what I'd been up to. Everyone else on the bus was the same way (minus the overly-affectionate hugging). Everyone skirted around the one topic they were all dying to talk about. It was obvious from the looks I was getting when people thought I wasn't looking. And it was only the ride to school. I could instantly tell that the rest of the day was not going to be easy for me. I hadn't expected it to be in the long run, but I had tried my best to brace myself for everything that was about to be thrown my way.

It had been no use. Nothing could ever have prepared me for returning to school without him by my side. Trent had been my everything for so long. But I couldn't cry. Not here. Not now. School was not the place that I was going to break down. I had been doing it for 12 whole weeks in my bedroom; it could wait until I was back there again.

Bridgette was acting a lot more protectively over me. She didn't leave my side, not even when Geoff had tried to pull her in for a longer kiss after we got off the bus. She had pulled away, stating that she'd 'catch him later' all because she didn't want to leave me on my own. I loved Bridgette. She was my best friend, and had been since the first week of school when we were five. We'd always stuck it out together, side-by-side.

But, even as she carefully led me to first period History, what was usually my favorite subject, it could never have braced me for the feeling I got. We stood by the door for a while, me just staring at my empty seat. I refused to move my eyes to anywhere else in the room because I knew as soon as I left my table and chair, my eyes would move to his table and chair. I couldn't do it. I had to make sure that I didn't think about him too much.

It took us a while, but Bridgette managed to get me to my seat just as the bell rang and class began. She took the seat in front of me and I knew I was in for a bumpy day.

"Courtney, how lovely to see you're back." My History teacher, Mr. Brooks, spoke in a very calming manner. It was much different from his usual up beat nature. He was part of the reason I loved History class. He was definitely my favorite teacher.

"Thanks." I muttered, letting him get on with teaching. I couldn't exactly say 'Nice to be back' like I should have, because it wasn't. I didn't want to go back. If I didn't have basic human needs like eating and bathroom breaks, I would have easily stayed in my bedroom for the rest of my life. I would hide underneath my blanket and never show my face to the world again. There was nothing I would rather do. I couldn't find a reason to keep living.

"Umm...Excuse me?" I instinctively turned my head to the right side, all my thoughts of Trent playing trick as I half expected him to be sat there talking to me. It wasn't. But I wasn't met with disappointment like I should have been. "Were you even paying attention?" He had blue eyes. Bright blue eyes that grabbed my attention and didn't want me to let go. "Great, my first real partnered assignment and I'm given an idiot."

"Excuse me?" I snapped out at that comment.

"Listen, darling, I can see that this is only your first day back, but you may wanna start paying attention so our History project isn't a complete fail." Screw his blue eyes, I wanted to lash out and slap his well chiseled face-His what?

"I'll have you know that I am-Was an A grade student. I've studied this textbook and know it like the back of my hand, you jerk. I know what I'm doing, so you better buck and up and find out what you're doing." Of course I hadn't been paying attention, I was too busy worrying and trying not to cry. But from what this ass had told me, I guessed we were now project partners. I turned my head to Bridgette, but she was happily chatting away to her own partner. So, I moved my attention back to the boy in front of me, the one who had taken Trent's space in class. He had a smirk on his lips and a shine in his eyes, staring at me like a dog stared at meat. History was starting to fall down the favorite subject list.

A/N: A NEW STORY?!

I know, I'm on a roll xD hahaha!

This idea came to me after watching I, Robot a couple of months back now! And it basically the sae idea if Detective Spooner was a teenage girl and it was romance instead of a murder mystery xD hahaha! Not QUITE the same thing, then...

I wrote this a while back and posted it on dA...I wasn't gonna post it here until I'd written a couple of chapters, but I realized that I need to post things on FF for me to have the inspiration to write more chapters for it.

So, please, review and give me the inspiration!

I love you guys, I hope ya'll enjoy this story a much as I enjoy writing it :D

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, DysfunctionalFamilyMember (Chloe for short)


	2. School Days

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Two**

**School Days**

I tried. I mean I really tried. All I had wanted to do was cry, and I tried not to until I got home from school. I wanted to keep it all in, not wanting to give anyone a reason to gossip about me more than usual. But as soon as History was over I'd ran straight to the bathroom and burst into tears. It was all too much.

Just before the bathroom incident, my new project partner and I weren't even on speaking terms. We'd both just sat there, individually reading our textbooks. I was trying to get a clear head from all my trauma by casting myself back into the Civil War. It worked...mostly.

It wasn't the new boy that bothered me. It was the fact that he was in Trent's seat that bothered me. It was the only empty seat in the class, I knew that. There would have been the choice of two; mine or his. And while I was going to have to eventually return to school, Trent...wasn't. Not ever.

That was what triggered the tears. That and just before the end of class I got a note from the school psychologist asking me to join her after fourth period, during Lunch. It wasn't something I was looking forward to. I wasn't sure if I was ready to talk to anyone about the incident yet. I hadn't even talked to the doctors at the hospital about what happened. Not the police when they came snooping around, wanting details from me. Details I couldn't give.

"I'll save you a seat." Bridgette gave me a quick one-armed hug as she stopped our walk outside the psychologist office. She had insisted on walking me there, but I had refused her offer to wait outside for me. I could walk to the cafeteria alone, giving me some time to myself. I needed time to myself. I was so used to having it for 12 whole weeks, and now suddenly I was crowded with people.

I watched Bridgette turn the corner before I knocked at the door. There wasn't a hesitation before I was called inside. A young woman smiled up at me from behind a glass desk. She seemed familiar enough, having worked at the school for as long as I had been attending it. Everything about this woman seemed sweet. Her office was neat and tidy, but looked homey. Her short blonde hair and light pink shirt were in perfect condition. She had a mother-like aura around her.

"Hello, Courtney." Even her voice was sweet. "My name is Laura, I'm the school psychologist. How are you today?" She gave plenty of space for me to answer, something I wasn't used to at home, but I didn't reply. "Your doctor called me a few weeks ago, just after you had been discharged from the hospital. He asked me to set up an appointment for you, and you came back today." Stating the obvious. The first sign that she thought I was crazy. "How have you been coping the past few weeks?"

"Fine." I lied.

"Fine? Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You don't want to talk about anything? About what happened that night?" I paused to take in a deep breath before continuing to shake my head. "Are you sure? You can tell me anything, Courtney."

"What happened that...that night was just so-" I caught myself before I said anything I regretted.

"It wasn't your fault, Courtney."

"Yes it was. Trent would have seen the truck skidding along the road if I didn't-Hadn't distracted him."

"That's not true, Courtney." The truck was skidding anyway. There was no way for you to have stopped it from hitting the car."

"But he could have braked!" My voice started to rise. "If I hadn't been acting like a stupid horny teenage girl then Trent could have braked a lot sooner than what he did! We might have missed the truck and he might-He might still be here." The tears were rolling down my face before I even knew I was crying. Laura handed me a box of Kleenex and I started to dab at my eyes. I had never even admitted it out loud before, but it was true. Trent would still be alive if I hadn't pushed things. He could have seen the truck, braked and we'd both still be together.

"You shouldn't blame yourself for this. This is something that is out if your control." I didn't reply. I didn't even nod to say I understood, because I still believed it was my fault. Instead I finished drying my eyes and I asked to leave. Laura didn't stop me and I caught my reflection in the mirror on the way out; my eyes didn't look too bad, I could go straight to the cafeteria. I didn't really want to, but I didn't want to worry Bridgette.

I found my blonde friend instantly. She was sat with Geoff and a few of his friends from the Football team and their cheerleader girlfriends. It was the usual group...with the exception of one. It hit my heart that there was a hole there. But there was always going to be a hole.

"Hey, Court." DJ called out to me.

"Hey, Deej." I smiled, giving him a brief hug. If there was one person I could always count on to cheer me up, it was DJ. He was just the nicest person you could ever meet, not a single bad bone or word to say. Pure golden heart. And as I sat and talked with the rest of the boys, I realized they had all taken his lead and weren't harassing me like they once had. Not that I had ever let them get to me before, but I knew why they were probably never going to do it again.

A cold shiver ran down my spine and I knew someone was watching me. I tried to subtly look around the room, but my gaze was drawn to the icy blue eyes of my History partner.

"Hey, Katie," I asked, turning to face the young girl across the table from me, "what can you tell me about Mr. Mohawk over there." If there was one person on top of all the gossip, it was Katie Garcia.

"Your new History partner?" She enquired, looking directly over to him. His gaze adverted to his phone in hand. "His name is Duncan Langieas, he's been here about eight or nine weeks now, in about half of your classes, I think. No one really knows anything about him. He throws himself into his work, but he never really achieves anything. Hasn't tried out for any school teams and hasn't made any friends. He's a mystery man." I nodded my head, showing I knew what she meant. I wasn't interested in him as a person, just as my History partner and the new boy I was going to be spending some time with these next few weeks.

* * *

A/N: Things are unraveling...

I actually just realized I used a similar mini-plot in my oneshot Fields of Heaven! With the car crash thing, that is...Are we piecing together what happened that night? The full story will come out one chapter, I promise XD

WARNING! This is rated T as in Teenage! As in there will be mentions of teenage antics in upcoming chapters…Started minorly in this one, if you noticed ;) Just a warning for ya'll.

I'm not terribly happy with the length of this chapter, I'd like for it to be longer...But oh well! Not all my chapters are known to be long! And this was written on my phone!

I hope everyone is enjoying this story! I really am :D It's up there on my favorite list and we're only two chapters in xD hahaha!

AH SHIT! DEAD FOOT! DEAD FOOT!

OH! And for anyone interested, I also posted a Hunger Games fic the same times as I posted this one XD So, if you like HG and have read MJ, and are preferably a fan of my work…. PLEASE GO CHECK IT OUT :D :D :D

Thank you to;

Pinkpsychoprincess: haha! Why, thank you, I do try ;) My ideas? Hmm...Here and there and everywhere xD Most recently, movies :P haha! I hope this is going to be great :) Thank you :D

kutiekat44: ME TOO! I, Robot is amazing! Will Smith is amazing! Here's hoping it is :D Thanks :D

TheGirlWithTheGoldenShadow: Straight up, I am in love with your username! haha! I'm glad you love it :D Here's hoping for an epic story xD Thank you :D

KlaineLuneville: SHAYLA! *Gives even more overly affectionate hug* I've missed you too! Where have you been? You keep running away from me! I'm glad you like it :D OH! And in regards to the other review you left, to save me writing out a PM to you, you have my full blessing to use Bex in any story you so wish :D Thanks :D

WHOOP! WHOOP!

I love you girls!

And my apologies if any of you are dudes...I shouldn't assume from what I can guess XD

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Just texted Maddi asking if she wants to beta this...Waiting for a reply...Waiting...YES! SHE WILL! ...Never mind :( It's too late on a school night! I understand :P

Love, DFM (Ya know, I cannot wait until September just so I can change my username...As much as I love this one, I miss my old one)


	3. TSAASPP

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Three**

**The Stressful and Almost Stubborn Project Partner**

There was just something odd about him.

I had been back in school for two weeks, and the news of my return was yet to sink in with everyone. I still got looks from people. Some accusing, some sympathetic. No one quite knew what to do with me. Of course, no one knew the truth about what had exactly happened. I shut it all out of my head. I backed it into a corner and threatened the truth to stay away.

The looks were worse when I was caught leaving Laura's office. I was no longer that top grade student with the perfect boyfriend and my whole life handed to me on a platter. I was that messed up girl now. That one who knew the truth, but refused to speak about it. But I had learnt to ignore everyone around me.

Except for him.

He never looked at me; he never actually spoke to me unless he had to. I watched him in every class we had together, my eyes just drawn to him. I knew that if the circumstances were different then the girls would have been teasing me about crushing on him. Sometimes I wondered if that was the case...But then the memory of Trent came back to me and I felt guilty all over again.

Duncan and I were just project partners, no more. We were project partners, but it felt like we were working alone. We never looked at what each other was working on; we could have had the exact same notes for all we knew. There was no communication and I knew that we were going to fail if we carried on that way for much longer. I knew I was going to have to be the bigger person and start talking.

"Duncan?"

"What?"

"Are you busy tonight?"

"No."

"Would you like to come to my house so we can work on the project together?" He didn't reply quickly as he had done before. I watched him finish scribbling his notes. I made a mental note that his handwriting could barely be called chicken scratch. It was as if he had only just learnt to hold a pen, but he was rushing to get everything down.

"Your house? After school?" He tested the words on his lips, almost making sure they fit into place.

"To work on our project, yes. I feel that we aren't working as a team like we should, this could affect our grades." I was honest in my words and he was wondering with his eyes.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." He replied. "My dad-I'm not allowed out on school nights."

"Lame excuse, try another." I hissed turning back to my half of the project. Not allowed out on school nights? That was the best he had? I knew he wasn't thrilled about me being his partner, but I would have preferred he was straight-up with his answers. There was no reason for him to lie to me.

Duncan didn't say anything to me for the rest of class. Or after class, for that matter. He was purposely ignoring me. This was fine because I was ignoring him too. He was doing nothing for my 'mental state'-as Laura would call it-by constantly being the way he was. I needed helpful and happy, not dark and brooding.

"You could have got a worse partner, Court." Bridgette chided, trying to make me feel better about Mr. Secretive. "At least Duncan does his half of the work. Poor Katie got stuck with Justin Ellis, and we all know he has no brains."

"But he's soo hot, which makes up for it." Katie beamed, joining us as we walked the school hallways. Bridgette and I laughed. Almost every girl in school was 'in love' with Justin Ellis. Even though Katie and DJ had been a thing since Freshman prom, she still drooled over Mr. I-Have-A-Perfect-Sculpted-By-God-Body. She was never going to cheat on DJ, that was a solid fact.

I smiled as the girls rounded the corner and I knocked on Laura's office door. She quickly called me in and acted almost surprised to see me. I had two sessions a week with Laura and there was no way of getting out of them. I had tried. But I only got called out of class and ended up faking that I forgot. She knew I had issues and a huge trauma build up in my head, or at least that's what she said. I was still guilt ridden over Trent. I still blamed myself. But Laura was trying to help me over it each time we met up.

"You seem tense." She offered when I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. There was nothing on my mind except that infuriating project partner of mine.

"Just stressed, I guess." I shrugged it off as nothing.

"About what?"

"This History project of mine, it's no big deal."

Laura didn't look convinced. She took a sip of her coffee and turned to her computer screen. She had a file about me on there. Laura knew everything there was to know about me, which I did find quite stalker-like.

"You've managed to catch up on all your missed work in just two weeks-"

"It helped me take my mind off things." I had barely thought about the incident since returning to school. My parents had definitely noted a difference in me. It was mostly just Trent that haunted my memories, not his untimely death or even my brush with the Grim Reaper.

"You're a straight A student, Courtney. What is stressing you out about this project?" Duncan Langieas. "I don't want you to be stressed, Courtney. It is no good for you in your condition." My condition? This was the first time she mentioned that I had a 'condition.' "Courtney, you went through a very traumatic experience. You had a brush with death. You lost-"

"I get it!" I snapped, but my chest was heaving and my breathing was erratic. I couldn't understand why I was feeling this way. But the guilt had finally eaten through and I couldn't force it back any longer. When Laura talked about my 'traumatic experience' it gave me memories, flashbacks even, of that night. The rain. The truck. The car. The falling. Zero gravity and then no air at all...

"Just take some deep breaths." Laura instructed as she walked up over to the water dispenser and poured me a drink. I took small sips, letting the water wash down my scratchy throat. The tears didn't come like I expected them too; those were hidden up behind the wall of guilt.

"I-I'm going to go now." I squeaked, nodding my head in thanks to Laura and getting to my feet. She didn't try to stop me and just let me walk out of her office. I was ready to melt down before the door was even shut behind me. I wanted to go home, but the buses only came twice a day. I planned to run straight to the bathroom. I wanted to escape and get away.

But there was something stopping me.

Someone stopping me.

"Hey." Duncan ran a hand through his green mohawk as he casually greeted me.

"Hey." I greeted in return, chocking back the lump in my throat.

"Good session?" I furrowed my eyebrows. Duncan tilted his head to the side, "Why do you go see her?" I didn't answer. It was none of his business why I saw a therapist. Not that he probably didn't know already. Everyone knew about the accident, it had been on every news station and on the front page of every newspaper.

"Can I help you with something?"

He pointed to Laura's door, "It's my turn." I cocked my head to the side and glared at him.

"Why do you go see her?"

"My father thought it would be good for me." He shrugged, the line sounding a little too rehearsed. "I changed my mind." He quickly added. "If you want to work on the project, I can come to yours tonight." I nodded, slightly shocked at the change if topic. "I can drive you home, if you want."

"You have a c-car?" His turn to nod. "No-No, its...It's okay, I catch the bus home." He tilted his head again and I decided it was annoying when he did that.

"You're scared." Of course I was scared. A car? Was he insane? Or did he just live under a rock?

I grabbed his hand and pulled a pen out of my pocket. I scribbled my address down and told him to come at any time. He smiled, but I didn't smile back. I hurried down the corridor to the bathroom and he went straight into Laura's office.

A study date? With Duncan Langieas? What was the world coming to?

A/N: Why do all my characters have therapists lately?

Seriously...Courtney, Duncan and Peeta all have therapists!

...I need a therapist.

I'M HOME ALONE!

I haven't been home alone in a longw hile...My parents rarely ever go anywhere with each other...And AJ's out...LEAVING ME HOME ALONE! And I can't go out because AJ lost his key -.- Idiot...Spekaing of whihc, my mother just called me O.o

I really like this story! Anyone else?

Next chapter we're gonna learn just that little bit more about Duncan...heh heh heh...

Thank you to;

kutiekat44: haha, aww, that means so much to me! Thank you :D

Pinkpsychoprincess: I know, this is so sad for her...haha! So much to be revealed ;) Thanks :D

Klaineluneville: You too? I'm crying my eyes out here for other reasons and I still go write sad stuff like this! Thank you :D

I LOVE YOU GIRLIES!

PS! I am going away on Sunday, so I don't know if I'll be able to get a new chapter up before then, if you don't hear from me, ya'll will know where I am...DISNEYLAND PARIS! hahaha!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, DFM.


	4. Confessions of Rich Teenage Boys

**Of Cogs And Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Four**

**Confessions of a Rich Teenage Boy**

I was on edge that day. Bridgette noticed, but I couldn't even tell her the truth. I think I was ashamed. Ashamed and scared. It was natural to be nervous after what happened last time I was alone with a boy. The last time I had been alone with a boy had been the accident...

"Court, sometimes I really worry about you." Bridgette placed her hands on my shoulders. "You had a really..." But the words didn't come out. They never came out if anyone's mouth. No one dared to say it out loud and I wasn't sure why. I didn't say it out loud because it made it real. No one else had that excuse. Just me. The unlucky survivor.

"Bridge, I know." I tried to comfort us both with a hug. "I know that it's been hard and trying and horrid for everyone around, but I'm okay. I'm getting better. And I know sometimes I space out and other times I have to excuse myself from class before I start crying in front of everyone, but that will all go away with time. I promise you that I am doing well." It really should have been Bridgette giving me the speech, but that wasn't the way we worked. Bridgette was the emotional one, I was the strong one. I always made things better for us. I always had.

Come the end of the day, I was amazed to find I was still breathing soundly. Bridgette linked her arm through mine as we strolled out of the classroom. She led the way to our lockers and then to the bus, and it made me think of Duncan and his car. The thought made me nauseous.

"Courtney, you just paled. Do you not want to take the bus? I'll walk home with you if you want." Bridgette was always at my side when I needed her to be and she always knew exactly what to say to help me. If I didn't want to take the bus I knew that Bridgette walk me all the way home, despite the fact it was a good six miles and her house was even further off the track. That was just the sort of person Bridgette was.

"No, it's totally fine." I smiled half-heartedly, hoping that she wouldn't see through the mask. We climbed aboard the yellow death trap and took our seats. My nerves started to kick in more as we started heading towards my house. I know Bridgette could see something was wrong, the look of concern never leaving her face, but I refused to let her know something was up. Because then I would have to go into detail about why I was nervous, and I don't think I could have explained to her that Duncan Langieas was coming over to my house without it sounding awkward.

I hopped off the bus far too soon. My house seemed too close to the school for comfort. Had they shortened the trip? I hugged Bridgette goodbye and walked up the pathway to the front door, leaving the whispers of my class mates behind me.

The door was unlocked, Giorgio was home. I walked straight into the living room and was met with a big surprise.

"D-Duncan." He looked up from the folder he held in his hands. The last thing I had expected was to see him sitting there, on my sofa, reading his History notes as if he did this every day.

"Is the bus really that slow?" He must have been here a good fifteen minutes. Giorgio must have let him in. I would be having words with that machine later. Letting strangers into the house like that, how dare it.

"I-I didn't know...Just I-"

"You did tell me to come to your house after school." And I had. But to find him sitting on my sofa when I got home was the last thing that had been on my mind when I had. Did he really take his work this seriously? Not even I took my work this seriously. Though, I know some people would disagree…

"_All you do is homework, Court." I laughed as my lightweight boyfriend fell backwards onto my bed. I didn't have the right to argue with him. I had been working on my homework for the past four hours. _

"_Now, now, Trent, you don't want me to fail, do you?" I swung round in my chair to find Trent propped up on one elbow. It wasn't the first time he had been in my bedroom and I hadn't thought it would have been the last. _

"_You?" He asked. "Fail?" He said the words as if he wasn't sure of the meaning. "I don't think you could ever fail a class, Courtney. It is quite simply not in your nature to fail. Even if you didn't do your homework for the rest of the school year! You would not fail." We both started grinning and I found myself being drawn over to my bed-_

"Let's get started." I mumbled, shaking my mind clear of all traces of the memory. I didn't plan for it to come to mind, but there was just something about the fact I was alone with this boy made me wash over with guilt, as if I was doing something wrong.

I took a seat on the opposite side of the sofa to Duncan and opened up my bag. He eyed me suspiciously as I took out my History notes, but no words were spoken. We stayed that way for a while. No words, just looking at notes. Until he spoke up, "Maybe we should put our notes together in an orderly fashion and then create a better draft from there." And now we were thinking with our A+ grade heads on.

We managed to work together to go through each of our notes. We wrote down a rough draft and then a few more copies. Duncan offered to type it up and I couldn't say no to that. I was pretty terrified of logging onto my computer. All my social networking sites were programmed to pop straight up and I still wasn't ready to face that.

I expected him to get up and go once everything was packed up. I'd offered him a drink, but he said no. He stayed sat on the sofa, staring at me. I wanted to shout at him that it was rude, but I couldn't deny the curiosity in my stomach. I wanted to know where he was going with this.

"You have a robot." He motioned his head to the wall where Giorgio was on the other side.

"Yes, all homes have them. Don't you have one?" I asked in return. Robots? He wanted to discuss robots?

"More than one."

"More than one? Are you extremely rich or something?" One robot was expensive enough, but more than one? That was practically unheard of.

"Bit of both."

"Bit of both?" This boy just talked in riddles. He shifted closer to me as if I was partially-deaf and needed him to speak louder.

"Extremely rich and or something." Now we were learning things. It was strange to sit down and talk with Duncan like this. I realized I knew nothing about him and we had been partners for two weeks now.

I was fascinated by the way he looked and the way he appeared to be. Duncan's outer exterior was tough. His green spiked hair, rough dog collar, torn up clothes. There was no remorse about his appearance-Except those eyes. Those bright blue eyes. They were innocent, unconnected. He looked like a curious child, as if he was still learning everything about the world. I must have looked just as curious as I watched him as he continued telling me his story.

"My father earns his money designing robots, which also means we have a few around the house." My head cocked to the side, piecing together the puzzle. "Given that not many of them work, most are there for parts and stuff...But yeah." His voice trailed off and I jumped in.

"Is your father Paul Langieas? Like, THE Paul Langieas?"

"It took you this long to work that out?" A sly smile played on his lips, taunting me with his icy eyes. "And here I thought you were smart. Can't be that smart if-"

"Shut up!" I snapped, my nose wrinkling and cheeks burning. The only similarity between Duncan and his father was their surname. I had seen photos and videos, and even read articles about Professor Paul Langieas, but Duncan was nothing like he was. Prof. Langieas was the father of all robots. At the age of just seventeen he had created the very first and used it for his own personal use. By the age of twenty-two he was CEO of Langieas Robot Inc. He started creating robots and distributed them to the police force, the fire department etc. Fifteen years later, robots became household objects. And now, at the age of sixty-nine, Prof. Langieas was the most successful man in the world. Everyone knew his name; everyone knew what he had done. I knew he lived on the upper side of town, many people did, but no one seemed to bother him much, aside from the odd paparazzi. He was an old man now. He barely had anything to do with his company.

"Yoo-hoo." I blinked. "Anyone still alive in there?" I blinked again. Duncan was snapping his fingers in front of my nose, trying to grab my attention back. I was trying to let the news that the son of the most successful man in the entire world was sitting in my living room.

"I-I don't-I didn't know Professor Langieas had a son." Was that the best I could do? The stupidity of my question only proved my shock.

"He has two." Duncan chuckled, clearly amused. "Me and my brother Antoin."

"Antoin?" The name slipped off my tongue before I had realized. But it did sound strange. Duncan and Antoin? The names didn't go together very well.

"A work college of my fathers died just before...before my brother was born." I couldn't tell whether was choked up or unsure of his words. "His name was Antoin Bartolini. In honor, my father named my brother after him." Duncan never broke eye contact with me. He never blinked, and I don't think I did either. Somehow we'd scooted together and I could feel the rise and fall of his chest. The innocence of his eyes bore into mine, causing my own breathing to skip a step. I didn't have to be out of my shock state to know that he was starting to lean towards me. I wanted to lean towards him, but I found myself withdrawing.

"I think you should go." But I didn't sound demanding, I sounded defeated.

A/N: Wow...I feel really bad for Courtney right about now.

What did ya'll think of the mini-flashback there? I wasn't sure about it. I added it in once I'd finished the chapter. It seemed sort of...Appropriate, I guess. Because Courtney is going to be feeling guilty right about now...Why? Because she's cheating on Trent! Well, in her mind she is...That's the part where I feel sorry for her.

ANYWAY!

HI GUYS! Long time no nothing...Where have I been? Mostly sleeping! Before that? DISNEYLAND! Yeah, I went to Disneyland Paris for a few days and it was so totally awesome XD I encourage everyone to go!

And to anyone who has been PMing me these past few days, I promise to reply soon! Not sure when soon is...BUT SOON!

And now I am off to watch Brave online...I found a pretty good average quality one XD hahaha! I REALLY WANNA SEE THIS FILM! But no one will come to the cinema with me :(

A huge thank you to EMMA! Who sortta noticed that I posted the wrong chapter 3 to this story xD

No other reviews...But I'm not even gonna complain! Ya'll can review if you like...I hope you will...But I can't force you.

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X (OH LOOK! NEW PENNAME XD)


	5. Those Late Night Facebook Chats

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Five**

**Those Late Night Facebook Chats**

It wasn't the impossibility of sleep that bothered me-I rarely ever slept anymore. It was the reason why I almost refused to shut my eyes. It was his face. I could see his face close to mine; I could hear the thumping of his heart and feel the rise and fall of his chest. I had come so close to kissing Duncan, but, in the end, I couldn't do it. It was wrong. Trent...

The words never came to my mind. Sure, I knew Trent best. I had been his girlfriend for near enough two years. And that was why it was wrong. Kissing Duncan meant betraying Trent. Trent, my boyfriend, the only person who had ever truly been there for me through everything. I couldn't say goodbye to all of that, not yet.

Without the ability to fall asleep soundly, I decided it was about time I checked out my Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. They had been sat there, all untouched for almost four months now. The courage to check them had never arisen, but as I couldn't keep Trent off my mind, it was time I found out exactly what was going on in the world of social networking.

Twitter was the easy part. I just clicked on mentions and read through the list. Trent never had a Twitter, claiming he couldn't keep track of every other site he was on without adding another. But his name popped up in at least half of the tweets addressed to me. Everyone was sorry for my loss, concerned about my broken limbs as I lay helplessly in my hospital bed. I had denied any visitors, only my parents were allowed to see me.

Next up came MySpace. That one was hard. The first thing that came up was a video of Trent and me. It was a week before the accident, in the middle of winter, and we were at the Muskoka Sports Center.

_"And now, Trent here is about to show you his new trick." My smiling face spoke to the camera first. _

_"Am I a dog?" Trent called off screen. "Am I going to show everyone how I can play fetch now?" I grinned. Trent had this way of knowing exactly what to say and when to say it, usually resulting in laughter. _

_"Just do your jump." I shouted back, turning the camera on him. He was up on the middle platform, standing dangerously close to the edge. His swim shorts hung low on his hips and beads of water were still rolling down his body from his damp hair. _

_I could see him smiling down at me before moving right to the edge, his toes popping over the side before he spun a 180 and decided to go backwards. I knew what he was about to do, he had been practicing all day. But as he managed his double back flips and perfect dive into the pool, there was nothing but awe. Trent amazed me every time. _

_"YAY!" I shouted as he hoisted himself from the watery depths. I held the camera in my hands so I couldn't clap. I turned back to the screen, about to start saying how excellent his dive had been when I found myself lifted off my feet. I squealed and my boyfriend chuckled, his arms carrying me bridal style. I watched his face as his lips came swooping down on mine, and I fumbled to find the off button. _

The tears were tingling at the corners of my eyes, threatening to break through. I allowed. There was no point in holding them back at 3AM. My parents were asleep, Giorgio was on deactivation mode. Just me and my tears in the bedroom.

It was no secret that I missed Trent with all my heart. All I wanted was for him to come back alive. I wanted nothing more than to wake up one morning and find I'd been in a coma, all of this just some after-shock dream.

Facebook was the last stop, and the most dangerous. I knew I had to brace myself for what laid ahead.

378 notifications. 76 inbox messages. 3 friend requests.

Most of the notifications were the same as Twitter. Everyone just apologizing for things that weren't their fault and wishing me better health. I read through every one and just pressed 'like' as a sign of gratitude.

Cody Lewis. Decline. I unfriended him for a reason.

Chris McLean. Decline. Do not know who the hell he is.

Duncan Langieas.

I hesitated for a moment. Adding someone as a Facebook friend wasn't that big of a deal, right? Especially when you knew who they were. We already had 157 mutual friends; there was no reason for me to decline him.

Duncan Langieas. (After much hesitation) Accepted.

I clicked up my messages and started with the most recent. I had barely ever spoken to half of these people, but they all said that they were there if I 'needed to talk,' which I didn't. I found messages from Bridgette and DJ, Tyler and Katie. All my friends from school who left long messages about how they hoped I was doing okay and that I should reply when I'm ready to.

I didn't reply, though. I wasn't in the mood for answering so many messages. Instead I found myself drawn to the very last one on the list, the one I subconsciously knew was coming. Trent.

_The car horn beeped from outside my window and I stuck my head out, yelling, "YOU'RE TEN MINUTES EARLY!" _

_Trent's ever grinning face looked up to me from the driver's seat and replied, "CHECK YOUR FACEBOOK! I TOLD YOU I WAS COMING EARLY!" _

_I rolled my eyes. "UNLIKE YOU, I DON'T LIVE ON FACEBOOK!" And I slammed the window shut for added emphasis. _

I'd never gotten the chance to read the message until now. That had been the day of the accident. The day had been great; it was the driving home part that had-

PING.

I brought my mind back to reality at the sound of Facebook chat. Wiping my eyes and looking at the screen I saw the words:

Duncan Langieas, one new message.

What did that boy want now? I clicked on the name and up came the small white box I hadn't seen in many months. I was once known to have twelve different conversations at once. These days I didn't know if I could cope with one.

**D: Hey :)**

**C: Hi**

**D: What, no smiley face?**

**C: I don't think it's possible to smile at 3:30 in the morning**

I decided to take this opportunity to snoop around Duncan's profile. He didn't give a lot about himself away. I wanted to find out what he was hiding.

**D: Why you up so late?**

**C: Why are you?**

His profile picture was obviously quite recent. It could have been taken today as there were no differences in his appearance. His smile was wide, as if he had been caught laughing. His eyes were glowing with a healthy amusement. I was yet to see this side of Duncan. The only amusement I'd seen from him was at my expense.

**D: I just finished typing up our project. It's looking good**

**C: Good to hear. I couldn't sleep**

There were only recent photos of Duncan. A lot seemed to be inside a lab or with older men. I could only assume they were associates of his father. And when I checked through Duncan's friend list, I found two types of people; those from school and those who were significantly older.

**D: Bad dreams?**

**C: Something like that**

It made me wonder what was going on with Duncan. Katie had said he had been homeschooled before, which was understandable, but did he not have any other friends? Was he never on the under 10's soccer team? Or never met any neighbours his own age? There was definitely something odd about all of this.

**D: Want to talk about it?**

**C: Not really**

**D: What do you want to talk about?**

**C: I don't know, you're the one who clicked me up**

**D: Why don't you like robots?**

**C: Excuse me?**

**D: It's quite obvious you have a hatred for them, I was just wondering why**

**C: Why do you care?**

**D: I'm my father's son. Curious about all things robotic. Including your hatred**

I hesitated, not quite sure how to reply.

**D: If you're intimidated by who my father is and that's why you won't tell me, would it help if I said I'm not too fond of robots either?**

**C: Why?**

**D: They're hollow. Nothing but machinery on the inside. No feelings or thoughts. The closest thing they have to being human is their anatomy**

**C: I've never had good run-ins with robots**

The words were typed before I knew it. I hadn't planned on telling him anything at all, but we sort of held the same views. Robots were hollow.

**C: I used to think Giorgio was spying on me when I was little. It scared me at first, but I developed a theory that stated robots were never any good. I almost got run over by a robot when I was ten. When I was twelve a robot pushed me down the stairs (was claimed to be an accident). And a few months ago... The robot made the wrong choice. **

I considered deleting the last part, but I had said it now.

**D: What happened a few months ago?**

**C: Don't act like you don't know**

**D Honestly, I don't know. I know something happened one night. One boy died and you were in hospital, but I only got that from stalking your profile, much like you've been stalking mine**

**C: It's been all over the news**

**D: I don't watch the news, or read newspapers, or take any notice of the whispers in school**

**C: It doesn't matter**

**D: Yes it does**

**C: I don't want to talk about it**

**D: That's okay**

**C: I'm going to bed**

**D: Sweet dreams**

**C: Night**

**D: Goodnight xx**

It took me minutes after my laptop had shut down to realize Duncan had sent me kisses. Two kisses on the last message. But that didn't mean anything...right?

A/N: So sad...

QUESTION!

What do you guys think Duncan's hiding?

I know what it is, but I'm curious to know what you guys think it is. I wanna know if I've made it too obvious and all of you are gonna come back tell me what it is XD haha!

This may possibly be the longest chapter yet! YAY!

It really is a sad story, ain't it? ...Just me? Okay XD

This chapter did NOT turn out what I planned it to. I planned it to start out with Courtney at night and finish with the next day at school...But I just kept going with the lateness and decided that chapter 6 can be the next day at school XD haha!

And I am on a roll with this story right now, I am in LOVE with it! Well, I've always been in love with it, I really do love the whole concept of robots.

No reviews...That's okay, still no complaining!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	6. Like, LikeLike

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Six**

**Like, Like-Like**

I managed to get my parents to keep me off from school the next day. My late night hadn't helped my head get any clearer. It always seemed to be foggy, as if all my thoughts were hiding in a distant mist, just out of reach of my hands. Friday wasn't a particularly exciting school day anyway; everyone would just be talking about the latest party that was being thrown. I never attended anymore; there was no need for me to go to school that day.

I had a nagging in the back of my head all weekend. I didn't speak to Duncan again. I didn't actually speak to anyone. I never went back on my laptop and I never turned my phone on. I wanted to get away from life for a little while. So I just lay in bed with my iPod, no intentions to do anything but sleep and occasionally eat when Giorgio brought me food.

It was a good weekend, peaceful and relaxing. And then Monday came around again. I had missed so much school that my parents just tossed me a carton of orange juice and told me to be on my way. They went to work early and came home late, I could have stayed in bed all day and they wouldn't have been any the wiser. But I knew I had to face school again sometime. It might as well have been sooner rather than later.

The bus turned up on time and Bridgette was more than happy to give up her seat beside Geoff to sit next to me once again. It had become a regular thing for her to do now. We hugged and she dragged me down into bench, waiting for the girl talk to start.

"You missed another sick party!" Geoff told me and all I could do was roll my eyes, noticing my best friend doing the same. "I'm serious! You better come to the next one."

"Geoff!" Bridgette scolded, which was a rare thing for her. But she was being protective over me. If I wasn't ready for a party, Geoff should have mentioned one. The teenage boy just sank back into his seat and I patted Bridgette's arm as the bus came to the next stop.

"Where were you on Friday?" She whispered when the chatter was loud enough around us. "Is everything okay? I was worried something had happened."

"I'm fine," I tried to smile positively. There was nothing I could do than reassure her that I was okay, that things were okay-because things were going to be okay, "But I think we need to have a girl talk."

I hadn't started my day with the intention of telling Bridgette about my project partner, but it ended up that way regardless. And it wasn't even 9AM! I guess I was in need to get it off my chest. I also needed the wise advice my best friend was known for giving. Duncan was so complicated and that made things for me complicated, and I don't like complicated things where my well-being is concerned. And, to my expectations, Bridgette didn't judge me. She was kind and considerate, nodding to my every word. She listened to what I had to say like a child at night, needing to hear the end of a story before they drifted to another land.

I couldn't even bring my eyes up from my hands by the end. "I just feel that every moment I spend even thinking about Duncan, I-I'm betraying Trent."

"No." Was what she first said, shaking her head at me. "Don't you ever think that, Courtney, not ever. Trent would want you to be happy, right? You know he would, he always put you and your happiness first." It wasn't a lie. Trent always had put me first, even back in the days when we were just friends. "I know that Duncan is clearly intriguing to you, and my personal opinion is to pursue this." My ears were burning as I listened to what Bridgette had to say. "He very obviously likes you, but he thinks you're not interested in him."

"But Trent-"

"Would want you to move on." Bridgette rested one hand on my shoulder and the other on my knee. I chewed down on my lip as the thoughts of Duncan and Trent whirled in my brain. Was it possible to love Trent as much as I did and still be falling for Mr. Mysterious? The only conclusion I could draw from it is that, slowly, my brain was letting go of Trent. I didn't want to, but it wasn't fair to hold onto something that wasn't rightfully mine. Trent deserved to be free from me, free to move on himself.

"Are you two coming?" I looked up to see Bridgette staring at me from her seat and Katie staring at me from the front of the bus. Somewhere in between Bridgette's advice and my own thoughts we had arrived at school, but my mind was too wrapped up in itself to move on.

Duncan wasn't in my homeroom-one of the few classes he wasn't in. So for ten whole minutes I was able to just sit and ignore my surroundings. Something I knew I was getting good at. It gave me a chance to think over the words Bridgette had said. Did she really believe that Duncan liked me? Like, like-liked me. No matter how childish it sounds, she-Bridgette, my best friend since sixth grade when we were the only two from our elementary to attend that particular middle school-actually believed it was true. It sent my mind into a turbulence, not sure what to think anymore. Naturally, there was only one way I could set my mind straight.

Calculus came straight after and I don't think I could have walked over to the classroom any more snaillike. I was going to confront him. There was no other way. I needed to know right from the source that it was true. I had to talk to Duncan. And I can't say I was excited about the thought. But I knew it was coming. As I took my seat I prayed there was a chance Duncan wouldn't even be in school that day, I soon realized the truth when I heard the familiar scraping of the chair and thud as he fell into it. Duncan had arrived.

The fact that in every class he had Trent's seat still bothered me. I was so used to turning around in Calculus to simply give him a smile. Now when I turned sideways in my seat, I was met with Duncan's curious face. It was an old habit if mine. I was sat by the window and my boyfriend had been sat behind me, so I turned sideways in my seat. Mr. Moore never minded, it just became a habit of mine. Duncan couldn't seem to work it out, though.

I didn't do it today. I wasn't ready to look at him at first. I waited until Mr. Moore set the task and the class to burst into noise. I took that as my opportunity. When everyone else was distracted, I turned myself sideways and tilted my head to look at him. He was already looking at me.

"Can I ask you something?" He raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "It's going to sound crazy..." I wondered if he could tell how nervous I was. My hands were shaking and I couldn't look him directly in the eyes, he must have been able to tell. "But-Do you like me?"

"Like you?" His tone was hard to make out, almost like he didn't know what to make of the question at hand. "I think you're alright." He shrugged after a moment. I must have changed my expression. "Not used to people not falling at your feet, Princess?" A smirk on his face, a dazzle in his eyes. This was the Duncan that liked to torment me, I could tell. "Do _you_ like _me_?"

"You're alright." I mocked, rolling my eyes and going back to work. But I couldn't shift his gaze on the back of my head. Duncan was watching me, and continued watching me until the moment I put my pen down. I turned to give him a piece of my mind, but as soon as I looked into those big blue eyes of his I lost my voice.

"Why do you look at me like that?" His voice was curious, child-like. He honestly wanted to know why I was 'looking at him like that.'

"Looking at you like what?"

"Like that. Like-Like you feel..."

"Feel?"

"Sympathetic."

"I'm sorry if I give that impression, but I don't feel the slightest bit of sympathy towards you." Sympathetic? I have no idea why my facial expression towards him would be anything less than hostile. If it was true that he liked me, then I couldn't say-Couldn't say what? That I liked him back? That I didn't like him back? My mind was so confused. I couldn't work out exactly what was going on inside there. All I knew was my feelings were starting to unravel.

A/N: Wow...Things are getting good XD

haha! Anyone else enjoying this as much as I am? This is currently my favorite story to write...If You couldn't tell...haha!

OH YEAH! Sorry if Duncan is a little OOC...He kinda needs to be for the plot to work.

SNEAK ATTACK! Next chapter we get introduced to a character called Andy...Who has a great role to play later on XD

I've been trying to wokr out how many chapters long this story is gonna be...But I can't. It could be like 30 chapters long or maybe only 10...So, bear with me if things get a little drabbly towards the middle. And do tell me if anything that happens gets BORING!

Thank you to;

Jo9i: Aw, I'm glad you think it's amazing :D haha, good guessing going on there ;) Thank you ever so very much :D

123: haha, I don't know XD Aw, I'm glad you're enjoying :D haha! Ah, reviews don't bother me so much anymore :P Thanks :D

KawaiiChibi-tan: Yay! I aspire to be different :D Glad to know it is achieved! haha...Ooh...Could be anything ;) I am refusing to update anything else until that story is updated, so I'd say tomorrow at the very latest for a new chapter XD Thank you :D

kutiekat44: Wow...I think I'd probably be the same way if I was around a lot of robots on a daily basis, but they are my current fascination xD Aw, thank you :D It was a good day! haha! I'm gad you love it too! Thanks :D

Aww! You guys make my day ^^

NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE UP BY TUESDAY AT THE LATEST XD

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	7. Out There

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter 7**

**Out There**

I must have fallen asleep Wednesday afternoon. I found naps after school to be quite comforting since I was staring to develop a fear of the dark. Ever since that late night chat with Duncan the darkness started reminding me of Trent. I kept seeing his face. And seeing the incident. Seeing his face when we were in the water...It haunted me. Naps in daylight meant I could stay up with the light on all night.

My world was black, but the hot air blowing on my face was unmistakable. I stretched out, scrunching up my face before yawning and blinking myself awake. As suspected, I wasn't alone. An identical face to mine was peering down at me from above. Tanned skin, bright black eyes and long brunette locks. That was pretty much the only difference between my cousin and I; my hair stayed at my shoulders, hers went rolling down her back. People used to mistake us for twins as children. And we'd usually play along with it too.

"Good, you're awake!" She beamed, settling herself on the edge of my bed. "You will never believe what?" There was no second guessing the happiness that just radiated from this girl. Something good had definitely happened, because this girl only had two modes; over the moon and crying her heart out.

"Why so cheery?" I mumbled, rolling out of bed and trying to find my hairbrush.

"That is the good news! My mom is letting me have a part this Friday!"

"Aunt Shari is letting you have a party?!" There was no way to the high heavens that my aunt was going to let Andy have a party. She was not that kind of mother. Aunt Shari, despite me loving her to bits, was quite controlling and overprotective. She barely let Andy catch the bus home from school by herself. There was no way she was letting her have a party.

"Yes she is, and I want you to come." The sincerity in her eyes scared me. Andy had visited during my heavily depressed days, but I never talked to her during those times. She would just come in, give me a hug and leave. It had happened quite a lot. This was the first time I had seen Andy in my room since I had returned back at school. She had jumped me in the cafeteria once, but I was used to her doing that.

"Andy, you know I don't go to parties anymore." My cousin obviously knew as she went to every single one. "I don't live in that life anymo-"

"Please, Court." It was definitely uncharacteristic of Andy, the girl who got everything she ever wanted when she wanted, to beg. "Do it for me. I need you there. And I am willing to pick you up and call you lame if that is what you really want."

Most people would have been repulsed with Andy's offer. But it made me smile. She was the only girl who knew of the tradition between Trent and me. He would pick me up before every party and call me lame. It was a tradition of ours. I missed it.

"Do I have to?" I groaned. Andy nodded her head furiously, and in that moment, I knew I was going to not find a way to back out of this. Andy needed me; this was her first party, after all. I couldn't let her go it alone, she was family. So, just like that, it was settled. I would be in attendance of my cousin's party on Friday night. Yet the only thing that came to mind was 'Geoff will be pleased.'

And pleased he was Thursday morning. We sat in our usual spots and started word that Andy would be having a party tomorrow night. While that was all fine and dandy, there was something that was not.

A certain green-haired boy was sitting in front of me. It was definitely a shock to step onto the bus and see Duncan's smirking face. Bridgette was in the seat behind him, giving me all sorts of best friend faces, which if I was better at reading, probably were telling me to sit with him instead of her. But I didn't want to sit with Duncan. I needed to sit with Bridgette. It was my dose of comfort for the morning.

I couldn't quite wrap my head around why Duncan was on my bus, I was sure he would have gotten a different one. I never asked why, instead I asked, "Thought you had a car?"

"It broke. I thought I would find out what all the fuss about the bus was." He winked and I rolled my eyes as I fell into my seat and announced to Geoff that I would be attending a party as he wished I would. The grin never left the blonde boys face the entire way to school. I didn't think I was that missed at parties, so it must have just been the idea of a party itself.

"Is Andy your clone?" My head snapped towards the seat in front of me.

"You know her?"

"I don't think she likes me very much." Duncan replied, not looking directly at me. "She glares at me in the hall a lot. It scares me."

"My cousin scares you? Andrea Martenelli scares you?" It was one of the most absurd things I had ever heard. Andy was not scary. Sure, she had a cold stare, but not scary. Especially hearing that coming from Duncan-the boy was supposed to be a hard-assed punk. He just shrugged in reply.

When we fell into an awkward silence, Bridgette knocked her knee against mine with force. "She's having a party tomorrow night. You wanna come?"

"Not really my scene."

"Never been to a High school party before?" It wasn't a guess, it was a fact I knew.

"Homeschooled, remember?"

"DUDE!" Geoff called from his seat, three away from Duncan, "You have got to come to this party. It is gonna be sick!"

"Sick?"

"Ya know, off the hook insane!" I watched Duncan's reaction to Geoff's proposal. He seemed interested to say the least. It was definitely a possibility for him to want to come to Andy's party-not that I wanted him there for myself, only to make up the numbers. Duncan was quite annoying to put up with in school, let alone out of.

The bus pulled up outside the main building and everyone scrambled off. I waited back so I wasn't caught up in the rush. I didn't need to get trampled in the stampede of students that rushed to greet friends and get to class on time. I was about to jump off, but Katie grabbed my arm pulled me down the steps.

"He has a tattoo!" She loudly whispered in excitement.

"Who has a tattoo?"

"Duncan has a tattoo! On his hip, DJ told me. He covers it up with tape; the boys noticed during gym and asked him." Katie was very excited about this. And I couldn't deny the girliness building up in my gut. Duncan had a tattoo? There was definitely something attractive about that. I couldn't help but wonder what it was of.

After my encounter with Katie and this morning's bus conversation, I was already feeling a bit giddy by the time I stumbled into Laura's office. It was Thursday and that meant an appointment with the psychiatrist for me. Not that I didn't enjoy my chats with Laura. We had lain off the heavy stuff for now. We mostly talked about school and...

"Duncan has a tattoo." I blurted out without realizing. "On his hip. Katie Ramonez told me."

"I know. I make it my top priority to know everything about my clients, Courtney." Her smile was unusual. Not in the sense it was strange of her to smile, but the sense it wasn't a regular smile. It was a hidden smile. She knew something. About me? About Duncan? I was too afraid to ask.

"My cousin Andy is having a party tomorrow night. She asked me to help promote and attend. It's my first party since the incident." The words smoothly tumbled down my tongue and into the open air. Laura nodded her head, obviously knowing it was going to be hard for me.

"I think it sounds like a good idea." She told me straight-up. "You need to get yourself back out there." And getting back out there was not something I planned to do.

A/N: So, this chapter covered a few things...

Yes, that is Andy. Courtney's cousin. She will be a key role later on...But her introduction needed to come about now...

There was also another key thing mentioned, I wonder if anyone picked it up XD hahaha!

I know I said Tuesday...But I finsihed this at 12:04AM on Wednesday...I RAN OVER BY FOUR MINUTES!

Wanna hear my excuse?

IT'S MY BROTHERS BIRTHDAY! Yeah...Honestly, it is! He turned 15 today...I thought his birthday was on a Wednesday, that's why I said Tuesday...Otherwise I wouldda said Wednesday...BUT A PROMISE IS A PROMISE!

I did not think I would get this done in time...BUT HERE WE ARE! At 12:14AM...I have to leave for college in 8 and a half hours...Good thing it'll probably only be and hour and 15 minutes of note taking...No real brain work for me...I hope...

Next chapter is the presentation of the project...The last time Courtney and Duncan have to work together...And also the party! Now..What could possibly happen there? ;)

Thank you to;

kutiekat44: Yay! Thank you :d

Jo9i: haha! Stick with me kid and you'll get plenty more XD Ah well...Some times it's nice to skip a day of school...Oh, I hope it is good ;) Thanks :D

KawaiiChibi-tan: YAY! I hope it's going in a good direction...Oh, tell me about it! Boys are just so confusing! Thank you :D

EEEP! I love you guys!

YOU RAWK!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

AN not spellchecked...Just the chapter...

Love, Chloe :D :D xoxox


	8. SWU NLPP

**Of Cogs And Teenage Boys**

**Chapter 8**

**Someone Who Understands/No Longer Project Partners**

By Friday morning I couldn't even see my cousin. She was surrounded by a crowd of adoring party goers, and she was milking it for everything she could get. Andy was wondering why she hadn't thrown a party earlier. If she was getting this much attention before the party, she wanted to know if she could make this a regular occurrence. I told her she was absurd during free period. It was the only time during the day that we could sit down and talk about it.

"Your mom is never going to let you throw a second party." I could hardly believe she was letting her throw a first. But Aunt Shari had confirmed the existence of Andy's now school famous party. "Your house is going to get trashed tonight, and you are never going to be able to clean it all up." I knew from past experience at Geoff's house. I always stayed late the next day to help clean-up.

"But you will help me, right?"

"Of course." I didn't really want to, but my mom had made me help Andy in every way possible. She claimed it was me being a good cousin, but I knew she just wanted me to do something other than mope around in my bedroom. My parents were subtly worrying about me. Work came first, I knew that, but when there were those odd moments where they were at home and remembered I was their daughter, they worried that I was sinking myself into a hole of despair. Everyone believed this party would help bring me out of it.

"Hottie at 10 o'clock." I barely heard my cousin, but I didn't have to hear her to see the figure approaching from the corner of my eye. Green hair, black clothes. Only one person it could have been.

Duncan's eyes met mine as I turned and smiled at him. He handed me a few sheets of paper which I recognized as our project. He really had done a good job of typing it up, and as I read over it once more, I realized we'd done a really good job of writing. While on other projects I read over I picked out every bad detail, but on this one Duncan had seemed to have picked them out beforehand. Almost as if he had read my mind.

"Good job, thanks." I beamed down at the papers still, but I was sure he was smiling too. Then it set in; the added eyes that were glaring at the two of us.

"So, Duncan," Andy switched her deadly gaze to him. "You are coming to my party tonight, right?" Duncan didn't look quite uncomfortable under Andy's stare, more squeamish.

"I might."

"Please come." More begging from the spoilt brat, in less than 24 hours! She was definitely up to something. "If not for me, then for Courtney." And out came the puppy dog eyes.

"Maybe." Duncan replied firmly. "See you in class, Court."

As soon as the library door had shut behind Duncan, Andy turned to me with a wicked grin, "What I wouldn't do to sink my teeth into his ass..."

"ANDY!" I yelled, totally disgusted by the notion.

"Come on, Court, hurry up and tap that!" I buried my face into my hands. Me and Andy were not having this conversation. I didn't want to tap anything. "Surely you had Trent many times-You did, didn't you?" She stopped herself at the sight of my face. "OHMYGOD! YOU'RE A VIR-" I slammed my hand over her mouth before she could yell out something I would make her regret. Andy did not need to announce my non-existent sex life to the population of the library.

"You do not say a word, Andrea." I steadily spoke and removed my hand. All Andy did was stare at me like I had just fallen from a UFO. "Okay, it's true. Trent and I never...did anything."

"Anything?" Shock and outrage all in one expression. "Like, at all?"

"Well..." I didn't want to go into the story. Not now, not yet. "We planned to." Andy gleamed as I told her the all-important words. She leaned forward, wanting to hear details, but I just slung my bag over my shoulder and collected up the project papers. "I should get to class. See you back at your place."

I walked down to History, making sure to take the long route. I was still ten minutes early, but I found Duncan sitting in his seat with a few other people dotted around the room.

He was staring at his phone on the desk. I took my seat and peered over at it. There was a middle-aged woman on the screen, but she looked quite young and healthy for her age. She had black hair, knotted into a high bun, and clothes that were typical of the fashion twenty years ago. I wouldn't have recognized her at all if she didn't have Duncan's eyes.

"That's your mom." I breathed out almost silently. He nodded. "She's beautiful. You have her eyes."

"My father's eyes are hazel. He hates them. I was genetically designed to have my mother's eyes." I nodded. It wasn't uncommon for couples wanting children to pick out specific traits they wanted for their child. I know when I was younger my parents used to wish they'd done the same with me. I was born with my grandfather's nose. It wasn't a bad thing, it was just oddly shaped. I didn't mind it so much, but my parents wished they had genetically designed me not to.

"It gets easier, you know." I pulled his phone out of the way. "It hurts a lot at first, but I believe everything happens for a reason. Each of us have a purpose to fulfill in life, most of us just don't know it." He seemed to swallow hard, turning to face me. "From what I've heard, Trent was a 'good kid' with no faults."

"I consider myself lucky to have even known him." I honestly replied. Duncan and I had never had a serious conversation like this before. But we did have something in common; our deceased loved ones. I didn't know if I agreed with Duncan's 'each of us have a purpose to fulfill' theory, but it was nice to sometimes be reminded that I'm not the only person to have lost someone dear.

"So, what's your purpose?" I asked, smiling to lighten the heavy mood. Duncan smirked back, not even thinking it over in his head before opening his mouth and saying, "I'm going to change the world."

"And how are you going to change the world?"

He shrugged, "I guess we'll have to wait and see." I couldn't help but laugh at the statement. Not that I didn't believe in him...I just needed to express it.

"Is this another A+ project, Court?" I smiled even wider as Mr. Brooks came hurriedly into the room.

"Expect any less from me?" He just smiled back. I was always an A+ student. I had been failing every class this semester due to my lack of coming to school, but in the few weeks I had been here I had got all my grades right back up there. All assignments done on time, all homework completed by the due date. I passed all tests and quizzes with top marks, beating everyone else in class. Well, almost everyone. Duncan had officially become my competition for the top spot. He knew as much as I did, which worried me slightly. I liked being at the top.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what a top grade project is like." Mr Brooks told the class as he looked gratefully towards Duncan and me. We were both stood at the front of the class, reading out bits of our project. "A+ to the pair of you." I now understood why we were the last two to present our projects to the rest of the class. "I knew putting my top two students was the best idea." And no one denied that we were the best.

We started work on another subject before the end of class. I wasn't paying a lot of attention in those ten minutes. My mind was ordering its thoughts, sifting through everything like it was a library. Duncan. Party. Duncan. Bridgette. Duncan. School. Duncan. Home. Duncan. Andy. Duncan.

The party was in about four hours' time. I hadn't spoken to Bridgette since that morning. School was starting to wear me down. Home, in my bed, seemed like a good place to be. Andy was going to kill me if I didn't go back to hers at the end of the day. And Duncan...what about Duncan? Everything about Duncan. His appearance, his personality, his philosophies, his understanding, his knowledge. I was captivated by it all. Bridgette's words were in my head again; 'Trent would want you to be happy,' but would he want me to start seeing someone else to achieve that happiness?

A/N: Wow...

So they're no longer partners...How are things gonna work out now?

Again, Duncan is OOC and he does a secret to his life...Which I'm pretty sure is not as oblivious as I'd like it to be, but I don't think everyone has caught onto it yet...WHICH IS GOOD! I like to keep a few surprises in store...

ALSO! I have already written chapter 9. Remember how I said that this chapter would also include the party? Well, this chapter plus the party scene is over 2,600 words! Which is a good amount for a story chapter, but the average length for this story is about 1 and a half thousand words...So, I decided it should be two seperate chapters instead...SO! Monday ya'll will get the party and...Let's just say I think ya'll will like it ;D

Thank you to;

kutiekat44: hahaha! That would be totally epic XD I know, I know! I'M SO SORRY! But it was only, like, 19 minutes late hahaha! Not a lot! Thank you :D

Jo9i: ...I have no comment for your wild tales! But good idea there ;) hahaha! Oh, Andy's party is gonna be...Good xD Thanks :D

Pinkpsychoprincess: HERE IS MORE! I hope it fills the need XD Aw, thank you ever so very much :D

I love you people! You is rawking!

...Ps...Whateves...

My brother is butchering his guitar again! And my ears...My ears feeled butchered...

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, ChloeRhiannonX


	9. The Party Swings

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Nine**

**The Party Swings**

I walked to Andy's after school. I probably should have just gotten on her school bus, but I don't think I wanted to sit on a bus full of kids I didn't know, staring and whispering about me. The kids on my bus had only just stopped doing it. Everyone in school, however, was still doing it. I was used to entering the halls and hearing my name echoing between lips. The fascination about me and the incident had apparently not worn off yet.

It was a good half hour walk over to my aunt's house on the East side of town. I was still too scared to get in a car. Andy seemed quite excited about my arrival, almost jumping for joy at the sight of me. I think she expected me to tell her exactly how to run this party. But when she asked me what we were going to do first, I said nap. I wasn't going to disrupt my sleeping pattern for this party.

"Wake me up in an hour." I mumbled, heading towards her bedroom. "And hide all the expensive ornaments."

It was almost five in the afternoon, so waking up at six should have been plenty of time. Or at least it would have been if Andy had listened to me. Instead I found myself awoken by loud, thumping music and the laughter of someone I didn't even know. I didn't even have to open the bedroom door to know that the party was now in full swing. The upside was that I remembered to lock the door, so now one would have been able to come in and see me drooling into my cousins pillow.

I quickly cursed Andy out loud as I scrambled to open up her closet. I hadn't brought any clothes of my own, so I grabbed a cream skirt and purple t-shirt, which I wasn't even sure were the true colors of the clothing in the darkness of the bedroom, but went along with anyway. I threw my clothes into the back of the closet, willing to retrieve them some other time, before running a comb through my knotted hair. Maybe that nap hadn't been too much of a good idea.

I unlocked the door and snuck out, hopefully without being seen by anyone. And it worked-as everyone haunting the upstairs hallway didn't notice I existed-until I got to the staircase. Bridgette was wrapped up in Geoff's arms, his lips pressing into her neck, her body pushed up against the wall. I was grossed out by it, but was used to seeing them doing that at every party they attended. Bridgette pushed her boyfriend away as her eyes came into collision with mine.

"Courtney!" She yelled over the blaring noise my classmates called music, pulling me into and awkward hug. "Where have you been? I was looking all over for you!"

"I was around." I smiled back. I hadn't told Bridgette of my midday naps, I didn't think she'd take it without insisting I saw a professional about it. Every little difference between this new me and the me I was before the accident scared and worried Bridgette. A lot. Like, a lot more than I thought anything like this would do to her. She always wanted me to talk to someone about it, but I really didn't feel like I needed to. I mean, that is what Laura was for, and I never even talked to her about it.

Downstairs I found my cousin mindlessly dancing with a lot of boys from school. All at the same time, I should add. I couldn't say Andy didn't like being center of attention without lying. I didn't even bother trying to get to her, she was clearly very preoccupied. I would have my words later.

A few drunken boys tried to get me to dance too, but it didn't take a lot of effort to ditch them. I could barely make out the clock on the wall, but it looked to be almost eleven. This means I had more than my fair share of sleep.

The party was buzzing all around me, but I just couldn't get into the party mood. The drunken boys and slutty girls were engulfing me into their madness. There was no room to breathe, no room to think. So I found myself fighting my way through the crowd towards the open sliding door. There were more people loitering the patio, but staying close enough to the party scene. I just walked straight past them and down to the swing set at the bottom of the garden. Andy and I begged Uncle Rio to get us one when we were kids. My dad had turned us down, so we turned to hers. It took a lot of ass-kissing, but we got it in the end. And we got our fair use out of it too. For four years we solidly played on the swing set every time I would come over. Even now it still gets used by Andy's younger twin sisters. Sure, it's a bit rusted and the ropes on one of the swings have been replaced six times, but it still has the same appeal to me now as it did back then.

I took a seat and stared up at the moon. Starless skies made it look even bigger. It reminded me of that night. The last night. The night of the incident. It had looked exactly like this as we drove home down the highway. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes at the very thought of it.

"I miss you." I whispered, the wind catching my chapped lips. "I miss you more than I think anyone can understand. You were my life for so long. I love you so much. Bridge says I should move on. You'd want me to be happy. But would you?" I don't know if I was expecting an answer or what, but none came. I tried not to focus on the eyes watching me from behind. "There's this boy...I don't know if you would have liked him or not, but some deep part of me thinks you sent him to me to help me move on." I sighed. "I'm so internally conflicted."

"Maybe this boy wants to help you move on." I didn't feel shocked when Duncan took the swing beside me. Typical it would have had to be him who had followed me.

"I don't know if he does." I admitted. "He seems so complicated. He has his own problems without dealing with mine."

I could see Duncan turn from the corner of my eye. His swing now faced me, the ropes twisting, his hands reaching out. He was definitely very strong as he managed to pull me to face him, the same position he was in.

"Trust me," Duncan's words sent shivers down my spine and set goosebumps over my skin. "He does." And then he kissed me, just like that. But it was like an explosion from deep inside me. Something just felt right as his lips pushed against mine. A metallic taste rang through my mouth, my taste buds going wild for it. I didn't move my hands to his neck like I should have, I instead kept them tightly clinging onto the swing ropes, and he kept his hands on either side of my legs, pulling the seat closer to him.

_What am I doing?_

I pulled away and Duncan didn't resist. He let go of my swing and I went flying back as the ropes corrected themselves. Duncan did the same, but he wasn't laughing like I was.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled.

"Why? You're not that bad of a kisser." I joked, suddenly feeling a rush of confidence. I turned to face him and saw that Duncan was biting on his lip, watching me from the corners of his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." And I believed him.

A/N: :O!

How was that for the party?

Not good, I know...I hope that moment of DxC helped be not as sucky XD hahahaha!

Soooo...I wonder what is gonna happen next...EEEP! I'M EXCITED!

And I don't usually get excited for my own stories...But I really wanna know what is gonna happen next!

I have decided that this story probably won't go on much longer than 15 chapters...It is basically split into two parts. Part one is getting Duncan and Courtney together, part two is Courtney finding out Duncan's secret...ARE WE EXCITED FOR THAT OR WHAT?

hahahahaha!

Thank you to;

kutiekat44: ha! At least I'm not alone xD hahaha! I love Andy! Thank you :D

Jo9i: hahaha! Yeah, I like Andy :D haha! Who knows? Maybe Duncan is human after all...;) Thanks :D

I love you guys!

ALSO! If you have read The Hunger Games and love it! I am posting a new HG story later today called Fireflies, so please watch out for that :D

Thanks for reading, please review :D

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	10. That Awkward Day After

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Ten**

**That Awkward Day After **

Things were awkward the day after the party. I woke up on my aunts sofa, my head falling over the side, Andy passed out on the floor beside me. I must have started drinking at some point, but even that was a gap in my memory. All I felt was a burning hole, and dizziness. There was a lot of dizziness. But that wasn't what was awkward.

I rolled onto my back, planning on staring at the ceiling. However, my view of the ceiling was obstructed by a better one.

"You drank a lot last night." Duncan spoke down at me. "I didn't know it was humanly possible to drink that much."

"Don't shout." I groaned, grabbing for a sofa cushion to pull over my face. At least he had shut the curtain, burning hot daylight did not seem like a good idea to me.

"Where do you keep the pills?" I could hear his smirk in his voice. We'd already had a talk about my 'medication' before.

"Upstairs, behind the bathroom mirror." I mumbled into the cushion. Andy shifted on the floor, but didn't wake up. Duncan left to get me some paracetamol, and I drifted back to sleep.

It was a dreamless sleep, filled with the never ending darkness that I feared the most. It burned my mind to conform to its dark nature, making me succumb to the fear rising in my chest.

"Courtney! Courtney!" I could feel my body shaking and my eyes flew open, frantically searching the room. I found Duncan perched beside my hips, a bottle of water and a box of paracetamol in one hand, his other on my shoulder.

"You were having a nightmare," he explains. All I do is reach out for what's in his hand, hoping to get some relief from my bodily aching. I really wasn't used to drinking so much. I had been at one point, but not anymore. I couldn't understand what had made me want to drink so much in the first place. Last thing I could remember was being outside, on the swings...with Duncan.

"Where did you sleep last night?" I asked, trying not to overthink anything.

"I don't usually sleep a lot." He replied, but I was already back to my overthinking. What could have possibly gone on last night?

I watched him carefully as he watched me, both of us waiting to say something else. I didn't know what to say. What could I say? We kissed and then he watched me drink myself stupid. There was nothing I could say. My stomach was bubbling with guilt. We had kissed, and I had admitted to liking him! ...Had he really admitted to liking me too? The more I tried to remember, the more I couldn't.

"Don't overwork those cogs up there." Duncan smirked his perfect smirk at me and my heart over-dramatically skipped a beat or two. "What are you thinking about?"

"What happened last night?"

"Well, we were out on the swings when you decided to ask me to come dance with you. So we walked back up to the house where you were handed three drinks right after another. You started dancing like a hooker and we made out on the sofa before you drank a lot more and started dancing again...And after the party had disappeared, you passed out on the sofa and your cousin on the floor."

I took in every word Duncan said, my mouth hanging open. He didn't have a reason to lie to me about this. But I could hardly believe that I would do something like that.

"If it helps, you're still a good kisser even when drunk." I groaned. "And you most certainly know how to use that tongue of yours..." I fell backwards, my head hitting a few cushions.

My memory had gaps in it, but the explanation did help me remember grabbing Duncan's hand and walking back up to the house with him. Geoff did hand me a strange coloured concoction. I may have danced a little more sluttily than I ever normally would...I couldn't imagine what Duncan thought of me now. After seeing what a hot mess I was there was no way he still liked me. But he was still here, sitting in front of me, making sure I was okay. But that's only because he's a caring person. Or maybe he did still like me.

I internally fought with myself until I realized I had been staring off into space for a good few minutes. I sat back up and found Duncan still watching me.

"I'm sorry," I told him. "I'm honestly not usually anything like-"

Another kiss from Duncan Langieas. This one was just as good as the first. I couldn't remember the second...But the first and third were amazing. Duncan seemed to know exactly what he was doing, as if he had been programmed to be this good. I wasn't exactly experienced, but the way Duncan moved his lips against mine made me feel like a pro.

"Sometimes, I wish you'd just shut up." He mumbled against my mouth as we slightly parted.

"Okay..." I whispered in reply, my eyes tightly shut and my mind in a blissful haze. There was nothing better than that moment. I was trapped under Duncan's spell.

I waited for a moment. I could still feel the ticking of his heart against my chest-

"Why is your heart ticking?" My eyes flew open and stared into his. Duncan didn't seem fazed, almost as if this was a common 'how are you?' to him.

"I have a heart condition. There's a machine in there that ticks to keep it going." He replied coolly. "It was either have the machine or a life threatening operation to fix it." I wanted to nod, tell him I was sorry again. For what, I didn't know, but I felt a need to apologize. "Does it bother you?"

"No." It was the truth. "It makes you special. Very special."

Duncan stared me down again. My skin was crawling with goosebumps, but I didn't mind. They gave me a good feeling. I was in need of a good feeling after everything I had been through in the past six months. Duncan gave me hope, something that the ever-lasting spring we were in was supposed to symbolize. I liked having hope. Hope for my life, hope for the future, hope that everything was going to be okay.

There was a sudden crinkling noise behind me. I shifted away from Duncan and snapped my head to see Andy popping two small, white pills into her mouth from the box that Duncan had brought me.

"Don't let me interrupt you." She muttered, laying her head on the pillow on the floor and passing out once again. I managed a smile and could hear Duncan chuckle.

"I should probably get home." My eyes searched the room for anything that belonged to me, but my clothes were stuffed in Andy's closet and my phone was still in my pocket. That was all I had with me.

The clock on the wall said it was just after midday. My parents would have already been at work by now, so only Giorgio would be home. My mind took a little while to realise I hadn't seen Rile. Rile was the robot that Andy had do her every task. Usually her homework. I guessed he was deactivated somewhere in the house, just waiting for Andy to turn him on and order to clean the mess that was created last night.

"Do you need a ride?"

"No." I hastily replied. Duncan raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything. He already knew I was scared of cars from the day he had come over for our 'study date.' "I thought your car was wrecked, anyway." I added, remembering his appearance on the school bus.

"I texted my dad to come pick me up when I went upstairs," he told me. "I'm sure he can manage giving you a ride home too. It's a cold morning; don't want you to freeze to death in such skimpy clothing." I looked down at myself to notice I was still in Andy's skirt and t-shirt. I instantly knew what Duncan meant by skimpy. At least he didn't say slutty.

"Don't be nice." Andy's voice floated up from the floor, "She looks like a prostitute." Her face now pressed into the pillow. I didn't know how she could breath, but all I wanted to do was push the back of her head down and hold it there.

"I don't get into cars." I said, ignoring my cousin.

Duncan was going to reply when a knock at the door made him smirk instead. He got up to open it, despite the fact it wasn't his house. Andy clearly wasn't going to get it. I followed after him, grabbing my sneakers from the staircase as Duncan pulled the door open.

Standing there was not Professor Langieas. Instead there was a metal tin-can with a face and backwards baseball helmet. I had never seen a robot wear clothes before.

"Ugh, Steve."

"Ugh, Duncan." The robot replied. Now there was definitely something weird going on with this robot.

"Where's dad?" He held his hand out towards me as he asked. Hesitantly, I took it. I trusted Duncan.

"Dad's working." The robot called Steve replied. "He sent me." He jingled the keys before Duncan snatched them away from him.

"You're walking home, can opener." I just stared between the two. "Something's not right about him, is it?" I shook my head. "Courtney, let me introduce you to Steve. Remember I said I had more than one robot at home? Steve is one of them. Steve, this is Courtney."

"So you're Courtney."

"He means nothing by that."

"But-"

"Shut up, Steve." Neither of them was angry, just teasing, like they were brothers. "Keep a secret?" I nodded again. "My dad is working on a new kind of robot. A robot that is more human than robot. He's been doing it for as long as I can remember and claims he is nowhere near perfecting it yet. However, he makes prototypes. Steve is the third-"

"-I'm the fourth-"

"Steve is the fourth in a line of sixteen."

My ears were burning with the new information I had received. Creating robots that were human? The thought was absurd. All robots were supposed to be...well, robots! But as I looked at Steve, I realized it could quite easily be done. That it was being done. My stomach clenched.

"Come on, I'll drive 20 miles under the speed limit and stick to as many non-busy roads as possible." At least he was trying. But as my attention turned from Steve and to the car, I started to freak out. It was a Lamado 2x9. It was one of the best, and one of the most expensive cars ever designed. I wasn't quite surprised that Duncan had access to one. I was surprised that I was going to possibly ride in one.

A voice in my mind whispered, 'Don't be scared.' And I like to think it was Trent giving me the encouragement I needed to get close to a car again.

"Don't be scared." Duncan repeated out loud, so I climbed into the passenger seat. A rush of adrenaline coursed through me and I found myself starting to slowly get excited, while also fear for my life.

Duncan jumped into the driver's seat and gave me a reassuring smile. I took a few steady breaths as he pushed a few buttons and the car came to life. He reached out for my hand again and I gave his a tight squeeze. I was very nervous.

"Please don't hand-drive." I begged. Trent had always insisted on hand-driving. It always scared me. I wanted to make sure I was never put in that position again. And Duncan agreed, pressing another button and letting the steering wheel push back into the dashboard. I didn't feel any more relaxed.

The car moved forward and I kept my eyes tightly shut. "Distract me." I pleaded, knowing I didn't want to think of the car in motion. "What's the deal with you and Steve?"

"Well, you know how you hate robots? I hate Steve." The sound of Duncan's rhythmic voice soothed me. "He's just been out to get me ever since we were introduced."

"Why did he refer to your father as dad?"

"My dad believes in creating his robots as his children. He always wanted a lot of kids."

"What about you and your brother?"

"He loves us, I guess. But he loves his robots too. Antoin doesn't really mind. But I...I can sometimes get envious of them." This was new. "My father spends so much time building new sons that he forgets about his other ones."

"My parents put me second in their lives." The words spilled out of me. I had never said it out loud before. "Their work always comes first, too. They don't really care for me much, Giorgio usually looks after me. As long as I'm not flunking, they don't care."

"Weren't you flunking?"

"That was different."

"Tell me about it."

"No...Not while I'm in this death trap."

"This death trap has been parked for the past four minutes."

I opened one of my eyes, and sure enough, we were parked outside my house. I hadn't even realised we'd stopped. Whether I really had pushed the moving vehicle out of my mind or if Duncan was just that easy to talk to. I didn't really care. All I cared about was the fact that I had survived my first car ride since the accident.

"I like you." Duncan whispered. My cheeks must have burned red at that.

"I like you too." I replied just as quietly, not sure what 'like' meant exactly. I assumed it meant he really liked me after the kissing. But just in case it didn't...

"See you Monday?"

"See you Monday."

A/N: So...This is the longest chapter yet XD

I didn't update in a week and a day, I thought ya'll decided a nice long chapter to make up for it! And I just don't know when to stop writing sometimes ;) hahahaha!

Notice how I make Duncan and Courtney very similar in this story? They're both top students and they both come from parents who almost neglect them...? That wasn't initally planned...But it goes along with the plot quite well, don't you think?

And I think I made Duncan's secret really obvious in this one! I mean, the only way it could get any more obvious is if I had him get it tattooed on his forehead! And, as the author, I could make that happen XD hahahaha! Oh, how exciting would that be if I made him do that? hahahahaha!

So, the reason I haven't updated in a while is because I have a) a ear infection, b) a cold and c) Am going in and out of depressive ruts like it's...I don't even know what it's like...But a lot!

I actually finished writing this last night, but I got too caught up reading a story...A good story...I don't stay up late no more! I'm in bed b 10 at the latest because I just feel like shit...

AH WELL!

NO MORE BORING YA'LL WITH MY PROBLEMS!

OH! If you do not know, I have another story going called Fireflies! It's a Hunger Games afnfic and I hope ya'll read it :D

Thank you to;

kutiekat44: haha! I'm so glad that it did :D Thank you :D

Jo9i: Whoop! I'm glad you think so xD hahaha! Aw, I'm glad you keep coming back for more :D Thanks :D

TheGirlWithTheGoldenShadow: haha! My bad, we'll just have to see how their relationship progresses from here now ;) OOOOOOH! THAT WOULDDA BEEN AN EPIC STORY XD hahaha! Thank you :D

I love you guys!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

STORY WAS SPELLCHECKED, AN WAS NOT!

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	11. Obstacles

**Of Cogs And Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Obstacles**

Bridgette came round on Sunday. My parents were out the door before eight and my best friend made appearance around midday, after church. Bridgette wasn't very religious herself-showing exactly how she could date someone like Geoff-but her parents were. I had gone to church with them once, I hated it. I didn't quite believe in God. I believed more in fate.

"So, Geoff and I slept in Andy's room." She continued to explain. "When we finally got up, she said you'd already left...with Duncan." Bridgette's words were cautious as we sat Indian style on my bedroom floor. She didn't want to press a wrong button, but I wasn't sure there were any wrong buttons. I was halfway to cloud nine. I just couldn't get all the way there with this tightness in my chest dragging me back down.

"Bridge, I got into a car-" I hadn't even finished my sentence when she jumped me in a hug. She kept saying how proud she was of me, and it made me smile. "I know, I was so shocked. Duncan drove me from Andy's to here, and I kept my eyes closed and I made sure he drove on auto, and he went really slow...But I did it. I got into a car and drove for a whole ten minutes."

"I am so proud of you Courtney. Trent would be really proud of you; you're getting so much better." At the mention of my boyfriend's name my eyes clouded over. It was silly for me to still think of him as my boyfriend. He was dead, never coming back. But I just couldn't accept it. We never broke up...Trent was still my boyfriend. I felt like I was cheating on him with Duncan. My mind was so conflicted. When I was with this mysterious, new boy I felt okay. I felt good. I felt like things were getting back to normal. But as soon as we were separated I felt the weight of my guilt forcing down.

"What is it?"

"I-I kissed him."

"YOU KISSED HIM?"

"Three times."

"THREE TIMES!" Bridgette's mouth hung open, searching for words like her mind had been wiped clean. I could barely comprehend the fact that I had allowed myself to kiss him; I couldn't imagine what was going through Bridgette's mind. She knew better than I did that I was never going to give up Trent. Trent was my everything.

We sat in silence as my best friend processed my words. I tried to guess what she was thinking, but it really was anyone's game. So I switched my thoughts...what was Duncan doing at that moment? And then I realized I had let my guard slip; Duncan had taken over my mind. I didn't want him in there, that space belonged to my boyfriend. But I just couldn't get rid of him. Duncan was wedged in there pretty tight.

"You still thinking about Trent?" Bridgette managed to ask, barely having any composure left.

"Thinking about both of them."

"Remember what I said; Trent would want you to be happy. He'd want you to move on." And I knew she, once again, meant it. Bridgette knew Trent as well as I did. We had met him at the same time. The day Geoff had thrown that football from across the field, but it had whirled straight past Trent and hit me in the knee-neither of us know to this day if it had been intentional or not. But that was the day in freshman year that we had both met our respective boyfriends, even if we hadn't known it back then. The four of us had been tight since then. And our group had grown over the years too, it was now built up of the people I would always proudly call my friends.

"Do you like him? Like, _really_ like him?" Did I? I must have. There was no other reason for my thoughts to constantly wonder about him. I was attracted to him, drawn in by the sheer thought that he liked me too.

"I like him, Bridge. _Really_ like him." And that was the truth.

My head felt ready to explode for the rest of the day. The two of us made small talk while watching TV, having Giorgio bring us snacks. But my heart wasn't in it. All I wanted was to be near Duncan again. I missed the conversations we had, and the way his lips felt on mine and-

I hoped Trent was smiling down on me. I didn't want to upset him by dating another guy (not that I was dating Duncan). I wanted him to be happy just as much as he wanted it for me. I hoped he knew how much I missed him and how he would always be a part of me. But Bridgette was right; he wanted me to move on.

As soon as Bridgette left I logged onto my computer. Not that I didn't enjoy the company of my best friend, I just wanted someone else's company right then. I moved straight to Facebook and, to my surprise, he was actually online.

D: Hi

And he actually wanted to talk. I was in a good mood, so I thought I would humor myself by mocking him.

C: What, no smiley face?

D: :D :D :D

C: That's better :P

I went to take another look at his profile, but nothing had really changed. A few scientists had posted comments on his wall, but I couldn't really understand what they were saying.

D: Doing much?

C: Not really, just snooping around your profile

D: At least you're honest

C: It's boring

D: Too honest

I was smiling and I knew he was too. We got along just fine like that.

C: You doing much?

D: Just trying not to kill Steve

C: Tell him I say hi

D: He says hi back

C: Why do you want to kill him?

D: I'm pretty convinced he's broken my toe

C: THAT'S HORRIBLE!

D: I know

I couldn't tell if he was serious or not. If anyone else had told me a robot broke their toe I would have known they were joking around. Robots weren't capable of hurting a human. But as this was Duncan, and I had met Steve, I couldn't be so sure.

I was just about to reply to Duncan when I heard another ping and Andy popped up on chat

A: Guess what?

C: What?

A: ALEJANDRO ASKED ME OUT AGAIN!

I rolled my eyes at the fact she said again. It was as if she had turned him down before but he wasn't going to give up. That was a lie. The again meant that Alejandro was in need of a good fuck and he was going to use my cousin to get it. Again. This must have been the sixteenth time in the past three years that he had asked her out.

C: He's a jerk!

I tried to remind my idiotic cousin of how badly he hurt her before.

A: He's changed

C: You said that last time

A: But I mean it this time! He's a different person, Court. Can't you be happy for me?

I rolled my eyes again. Be happy for her? She had to be kidding. I would be happy for her on her wedding day, not when some dick repeatedly used her.

C: I am happy for you. But I have to go, I'm talking with Duncan.

A: I'm happy for you too :D Ciao xxx

And before I could correct her suspicions she logged off.

D: You still breathing over there?

C: Sorry, Andy decided to tell me about her jerk of a boyfriend

D: That bad?

C: Is being eaten alive by a shark that bad?

D: I see

I wasn't sure how to reply. We were obviously beating around the bush with small talk. We needed to face the elephant in the room.

C: I think we need to talk

D: I thought we were

C: About the party

Now it was his turn to stall. I know it wasn't easy to talk about. We were both in an awkward place with what had happened.

D: Okay. I like you. I like you a lot. I know you have a lot of baggage which you refuse to open up about, but that's okay. I accept you the way you are as long as you can accept me for what I am. You make me nervous. I've never had a girlfriend before and, truth be told, on the swings the other night was my first kiss. I just want you to know that I think you're an amazing person, no matter how you feel about me.

Well, that would have been awkward if I didn't like him.

C: I like you a lot too. One day I will open up about my baggage, you will hear the full story straight from me. I accept you the way you are, you socially awkward, super annoying, heart-ticking man. You always make me nervous too; I never know how I'm feeling around you. I've only had one boyfriend before, and that clearly didn't end well...And I'm really shocked about that truth. You're an amazing person also, and trust me; I think our feelings are reciprocated.

It took a lot of energy, but I confessed it all to him. He needed to know how I felt.

D: Be my girlfriend?

C: Yes :D

And like that, we sealed the deal.

* * *

A/N: Well...

What do ya'll think of that?

Pretty intense chapter there...

YAY! THEY'RE FINALLY TOGETHER XD

And Andy is dating Alejandro...

And yes, Duncan's big secret is that he has never had a girlfriend before!

hahahahaha! Imagine if that was really it...I fear ya'll would come after me with pitchforks for it being so lame after everything I've put you through XD

So, we can rule out gay and never had a girlfriend or never kissed a girl before...Though, they are true...Minus the gay part...I think that'd be just a bit strange at this point...

Remember when I said Andy had an important part to play in the plot? Well, apart from the fact she threw the party that really got D and C together...There may be something she does that brings out a certain secret everyone is dying to know...Now I wanna know your best guesses on that XD

And the part that goes;

'"I-I kissed him."

"YOU KISSED HIM?"

"Three times."

"THREE TIMES!"'

Is actually based off a real life experience...I was the one who had been kissed...Three times...It was at my friend Aurora's sleepover last year XD We were discussing something and me and Aaron came up in conversation...So, the caps lock was Aurora and Chantelle's reaction...Now that I think about it, it was a very entertaining moment of my life XD

I thought of a way to extend the story out a bit too...So it may go on for a few more chapters than I had actually planned! YAY! And I already know one thing that is gonna happen next chapter...But I need you guys to tell me some things a boyfriend and girlfriend can do together...Nice, normal things...Because I'm totally outta ideas! Most of next chapter will be a filler, just them being cutesy ^^ But the moment I already have planned is kinda important to the plot...Only a small moment...Involves a visit to Laura XD YAY!

PS! I have a website now! Uh...YEAH! With FF being so damn unpredictable these days, I decided to start a website to share my stories on ^^

ChloeRhiannonX. webs. com

Go check it out please :D

Thank you to;

Pinkpsychoprincess: What do you think Duncan's secret is? haha! Awww ^^ Thank you :D

Jo9y: Because leaving you confused, conflicted and excited to read more highly entertains me XD hahahaha! Give it a few more chapters, three/four at the most! And then we'll know it :D Thanks :D

kutiekat44: hahaha! Yeah, I agree, Courtney isn't really the type to go crazy at a party, but I thought she was ready to do something exciting with her life :P YAY! INSTAGRAM! Sorry if I don't fave many pictures of yours, my friend Bridget clogs up my news feed with pictures of Reece Mastin and after a while I just get bored of going through it...Thank you :D

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: ABOUT TIME! I mean this story has only been going on for what, almost nine weeks? hahaha! But I'm glad you're finally reading it! Meh...I've given up most hope of sending you my chapters these days...I'm too impatient to wait for you to send them back...HEY! NO REVEALING DUNCAN'S SECRET JUST BECAUSE YOU KNOW IT XD It's only obvious because you know what it is :P And it actually has very little to do with I, Robot! AND YOU NEED TO GET YOUR ADD TO WATCHING I, ROBOT! One of the best movies ever made...It's never too early to start listening to Christmas songs XD MARK OF ATHENA IS AWESOME! And cry worthy...Five more days...I shall predict you cry a lot ;) hahaha! Thanks :D

Beaufale: I'm glad you like it :D Thank you :D

YOU GUYS RAWK!

And yes, if you read that, the last but one review there is from my awesomely epic best friend Maddi who, yes, does know Duncan's secret...And yes, if you read the second review down, three/four chapters at the very most before Duncan's secret is revealed! EEEP! Anyone else excited for this?

I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Damn, this has been a long AN...

Hahahaha! Spellcheck wants to change I, Robot to Me, Robot XD

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	12. Curiosity Almost Kills Courtney

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Twelve**

**Curiosity Almost Kills Courtney**

"Morning, beautiful." The words tickled my ear. I smiled. I wasn't completely awake and my eyes weren't open, but I knew exactly who it was. "Sleep well?"

"What are you doing here so early?" I mumbled, my voice hoarse from a good night's rest.

"I wanted to see you," Duncan replied, nudging closer to me in my bed. "Giorgio let me in. I want to drive you to school." Again with the car? I wasn't as scared now as I had been the first time, but my stomach still clenched. "And I was thinking, maybe after school I could take you out."

My eyes flew open and I found myself staring directly into Duncan's. I could feel my bed slightly moving at the touch of his ticking heart, but I was already so used to it. I wanted to stay lying there with him. That was until I realized I had bed hair and morning breath. I wouldn't be surprised if I looked like I had been struck by lightning and smelt like I'd been eating raw eggs. I rolled onto my back, running my hands through the lion's Maine on top of my head.

"I'll leave you to get ready." Duncan gave me a quick peck on my forehead and left me alone. I watched him leave, wondering how he looked so perfect. I didn't deserve him. It was that moment that another realization kicked in; he was mine and I was his. Last night we'd agreed to date each other and our first real date was going to be later tonight. Excitement wasn't easy to control.

I got dressed, brushed my teeth furiously and went downstairs to find Duncan and Giorgio talking animatedly about something I couldn't understand. It was something to do with robots, but I can't tell you much more. Robots weren't my strongest category.

Me and my boyfriend headed out the door and he carefully drove us to school. My phone buzzed a few times, but it was just Bridget wondering where I was. She'd obviously saved my spot on the bus, but I hadn't shown up. I texted her back just as Duncan pulled into the back parking lot.

We walked hand-in-hand towards my first period, many people staring at us. But I didn't feel uncomfortable because I knew I had Duncan at my side this time, ready to face anyone who dared say anything to either of us.

We stopped just north of the classroom door. Most people had gone inside already.

"I'm going to kiss you goodbye now." He whispered and my heart skipped a beat. Duncan always knew the right thing to say to get me to melt right into him. It was only a fleeting kiss, but it was wonderful. "See you in Math?" He questioned, moving away from me. All I could do was nod.

I watched him round the corner before my feet remembered how to move. I scurried into homeroom, staring at my feet the whole time. No doubt everyone's eyes were on me. My every move was global news at this school. So when I changed my status to 'In a relationship with Duncan Langieas' there was now a whole social outbreak amongst my peers.

"So, Courtney," Katie smiled widely, her eyes alight with gossip. "What's the dealio with Mr. Hot Stuff?" I couldn't help but laugh at my friends' eagerness, but even Bridgette leaned in for the answer.

"I like him, okay? Don't scare him away." And we all started smiling at the memory of the first time Trent met my friends.

"Don't you think it's a little soon?" I whipped my head round to glare at the dark haired girl behind Katie, "I mean you and Trent were together since forever. I can't believe you've forgotten him already."

"Shut it, Heather." LeShawna growled. Heather was the head cheerleader, way too stereotypical since every girl on the team- scratch that-every girl in school wanted to beat her to a pulp. LeShawna was leader of the mob, always defending people against the Queen bee.

"Just giving my opinion," the Asian teenager replied, flipping through her notebook, not a care in the world. None of us could lay a finger on Heather since her father was a huge benefactor to the school. We hurt her and we get permanently kicked out.

"Well, no one asked for it," Katie fought back, turning to face me with another cheery smile. Katie may have been the girliest person I associated myself with, but you didn't want to piss her off.

All eyes were on me now, but my thoughts had returned. Was I really doing Trent any justice by dating Duncan? I started to believe I must have looked like a whore to the kids at my school because of how quick I had gotten 'over' him. But I hadn't gotten over him. I still loved him. And it was wrong of me to string Duncan along in my confusion of feelings.

"Don't you dare listen to anything Heather says, okay?" Bridgette tried to assure me everything was alright during the walk to Math class. "Her only goal in life is to destroy other people's lives. But we are not going to let her hurt you."

I could always count on my best friend to put a smile on my face. And the smile continued to stay on my face through the rest of the day. Duncan was in every class I had and I could not have been happier. He may not have always been sat next to me, but we somehow ended up speaking through our eyes. It was a strange sensation, but he made me feel good about my predicament. He made me realise why I liked him in the first place.

My friends even welcomed him to sit with us at lunch:

"You're not eating?" I asked noticing he was the only one with nothing in front of him.

"I don't tend to eat during the day." He replied, pulling a face at the sight of my cheese fries.

"What a great excuse to not die a poisonous death from...this!" Geoff proclaimed, pushing what looked to be grey oatmeal around his plate.

I never thought a day at school would ever be good again after Trent's death. But Duncan made me realise that there was always hope, always something new around the corner; you just had to have the courage to notice it. Duncan was what had been hiding around my corner.

The day did not end when the final bell rang. Duncan took my hand in his and the two of us made our way to his car. We drove in a comfortable silence for half an hour until I realised we'd left the city limits behind. I glanced around at the countryside surrounding us, panic rising chest, and my stomach tying in tight, anxious knots.

"Duncan, where are we?"

"Calm down, take some deep breaths," he recited in reply, and I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "We're heading towards Huntsville, you ever been there before?" I shook my head. "Well, I'm taking you to Arrowhead Provincial Park. Is that okay?" I nodded. I couldn't tell him no, it would be wrong. Plus, I was quite excited to see what he had planned.

Despite the fact Spring was coming, there was still a thin layer of snow on the ground in some places in Muskoka. Apparently Huntsville was one of them. I wasn't sure what we would be doing in a park, but I trusted Duncan enough to just breathe deeply and let him do it.

He pulled up at the edge of what I thought was woodland, but as the two of us walked through I saw his plan: ice skating. Duncan was taking me outdoor ice skating for our first date. And it was the most romantic and unexpected thing I could have asked for.

"Two weeks ago, I came here with my father's friend's granddaughter. She really wanted me to take her ice skating, so I found this place and thought it was perfect. We had a lot of fun and I thought I'd bring you here to enjoy it too. And, before you get jealous, Lydia is six. You have no competition there." I was speechless. No words came out of my mouth as I watched the couples and the children all laughing on the frozen lake. "Do you skate?"

"I've never been ice skating before." I mumbled breathlessly. I knew Duncan well enough to know he was smirking before I even turned to look at him, "Guess you'll have to teach me."

And he did. Though the skates were easy enough to walk with off the rink, I couldn't catch my balance on it. But Duncan held my hands and kept me steady the whole two hours we were there. I refused to let go of him for my own safety, and maybe because it was easier to kiss him that way. I think I counted seven lip-locking moments, but I stopped counting after we fell during a particularly deep embrace.

The only time I stopped smiling was when Duncan dropped me home and I watched him drive off. My heart felt hollow when he wasn't there.

My parents weren't even home yet, so I dialed up Bridgette and the two of us squealed down the line to each other as I recounted our first date until I fell asleep.

It was nice to fall into a routine with Duncan. I liked routine things. The next three mornings I'd wake up to find him lying next to me. It was always nice to wake up to someone other than Giorgio. My boyfriend would drive me to school and we'd be almost inseparable. But one of the things that did separate us was the visit to Laura.

Duncan gave me a chaste kiss and took a seat outside Laura's office as I entered. We'd both had our Tuesday appointments cancelled due to Laura being needed elsewhere. This was the first time I was going to tell her about Duncan and me.

"Courtney, how are you?" Laura smiled up at me. "Long time no see, huh?" I nodded, taking the seat across from her. "Is everything okay? How have you been this last week?"

"I've been okay." I answered, "Mostly."

"Just mostly?"

"People have had me thinking...about Trent a lot this week. They keep making me think that I'm doing something wrong. Like I'm betraying him or something." I couldn't look at Laura. I kept my visions on the floor. My mind was flooded with the haunting questions and answers, statements and facts. Everything people had said about Trent and Duncan, and me caught in the middle of the two, over the last few days was pushing its way in aggravating circles in my mind.

"Why is that?" Laura leaned forward, her arms folded on her desk.

"Duncan asked me to be his girlfriend on Sunday. And I said yes." I wasn't looking directly at her, but I could see her eyes go wide. She was more than shocked with my answer. "And now everyone keeps making me think that I'm doing a bad thing by dating Duncan."

"Are you happy?"

"I don't know..."

"Think about it, Courtney," Laura encouraged. "Would you be happier if you and Duncan weren't together?" I shook my head. Of course not. I really liked Duncan a lot. "Then you don't need to listen to anyone else. Listen to yourself."

We spent the next ten minutes jumping from topic to topic. Nothing heavy and we never brought up neither Trent nor Duncan, apart from when I told Laura about the ice skating (but that was more because I felt the need to tell everyone).

My time ran short and Laura told me to send Duncan in. My boyfriend gave me a sexy smirk as I left the room, making my legs wobble and my heart melt with an overwhelming desire to kiss him. And not the kind of kiss that was appropriate for school.

He did give me another quick peck on the lips before he entered Laura's office. He still hadn't told me why he saw her and still played dumb on why I did too. Duncan had a way of making me see that the accident is only a small part of my whole life. It was probably the worst part, but I shouldn't hold onto its memory. It didn't help. It was burnt in there for the rest of my life. But the thought was there.

It was wrong, I know. I should have just sat down and waited for Duncan to reappear. But I pressed my ear to the door instead. I was curious and I couldn't escape it.

"What are you playing at, Duncan?" Laura sounded exasperated, which I found strange. She was such a kind and gentle person; she was supposed to listen to people's problems. "This isn't why you're here and you know it."

"I know why I'm here," Duncan snapped back.

"Does your father know?"

"I've told him. He didn't think I was capable of love...but here we are. I love her. I love Courtney. Nothing anyone does will stop me feeling that way."

"You really feel it?"

"Yes."

"And you know its love?"

"I've never been in love before, Laura! But this is a new feeling for me...Every time I have to leave her I want nothing more than to be with her again! I enjoy her company, she makes me feel happiness."

Laura muttered something, maybe, "Happiness is any easy emotion," but I hadn't heard correctly.

"She doesn't know." Duncan spoke again after a long silence. "I can't tell her."

"Of course you can't tell her!" Laura's raised voice came through the wooden door, "Are you crazy? No one is supposed to know about this, Duncan! Not until the end of the school year when this secret of yours is outed to the public!"

"You don't think I know that?!" Duncan yelled back. I heard his hands collide with the desk. "I can't tell anyone and it hurts me! Yes, Laura, I know what pain feels like!"

"You don't know anything." Her words were cold, but I didn't have time to register them because there was a loud crash that made me jump, followed by a bitter silence.

"That, Duncan, is anger. Steve makes you feel anger, doesn't he?" There was no reply. "I don't want you to feel anger. Anger isn't a good emotion for you to have while around people. Someone could get hurt, and then where would you be? So go back outside and be with Courtney. Feel happiness. Feel love. But, just know, that girl has suffered great heartache once already. You're only going to put her through the same thing."

A/N: HOLY CRAP!

We're edging closer to Duncan's secret now...

Anyone wanna take a guess?

I put a few clues in at the end there XD

My favorite scene so far has to be with Duncan in Laura's office there. It is so important and so useful...But no one will know what it means unless you have been paying quite a bit of close attention XD

Though, I say that's my favorite scene...I think my favorite scene will be coming up in the NEXT chapter! Courtney tells Duncan the full story of what really happened the night of the accident...I have been so looking forward to that moment!

And yeah...No Andy in this chapter :( I do like Andy XD Maybe next chapter...I don't know...Maybe the chapter after that...She'll come back eventually, she has to...She's kinda key to the plot at this point... XD

YA WANNA NOW A FACT? The part that Andy is key to was originally gonna go to Katie! But I changed it because I don't see Katie as being that type of girl...And making her one would just be a bit too OOC for me. So I decided to make a new character called Andy and just made Katie Courtney's gossip friend instead of her cousin XD

ONE THING!

The Arrowhead Provincial Park in Huntsville, Muskoka with the outdoor ice rink is a REAL place! Google it! No...I have never been...

TWO THINGS!

I had to get something about anger in there because one of my all-time favorite moments in I, Robot is when Sonny slams his fists into the table during his interrogation! And because Laura was sort of interrogating Duncan, I thought him losing his temper would be a good connection XD

Thank you to;

Jo9y: haha! Oh, the wait will be worth it XD DRAMA! There will be a lot of it, hopefully...Thank you :D

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: MoA was a very tear worthy book...Very heart-wrenching...hahaha! Go for it XD I can't remember what the end of the review is supposed to say...Thank :D

IGotAStoryToTell: I'm glad you love it :D Thank you :D

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Thanks for reading, please review :D

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X (I STILL always go for ChloeRhiannonX before I correct myself...)


	13. Spilled Secret

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys **

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Spilled Secret**

Duncan didn't act any less than his usual self for the rest of Thursday. He was kind, funny and loving. I was still weary of him, though. He had broken something in Laura's office, meaning he had a bad temper sometimes. He was definitely hiding something and Laura said it was going to be outed by the end of the school year. That was still a few weeks away; I wanted to know what it was now.

But my mind kept going back to two important points in their conversation. Laura had said, 'But, just know, that girl has suffered great heartache once already. You're only going to put her through the same thing.' I had suffered great heartache with Trent just a few weeks before. Heck, I still felt heartache for him then. But there was no way Duncan could cause my heartbreak. I love-

Point two is what Duncan said, 'I love her. I love Courtney.' He loved me. He admitted it out loud. And I loved him. Duncan was everything I needed. I wanted to be with him at all hours of the day. I loved Duncan.

I met up with Andy on Friday in the school library during lunch. My wild minded cousin was all over the news of Duncan and me, claiming she was the first to know. The two of us talked-well, Andy talked, I scrunched my face up in disgust-about Alejandro and how he really had changed. He was so caring and sweet towards her, not rough like he had been previously.

"Have you and Duncan done it yet?" Andy asked intently. She seemed to think that I had a desire to spit out all of my dirty tricks like she did.

"No, Andy." I replied, trying my best to keep my cool and not bang my cousin's head into a wall. "We've only been together five days. I'm not a sex animal like you are. We haven't done anything other than kiss, and maybe a little making-out."

"Boring! There needs to be at least a little groping action for it to be called a make-out session." I just rolled my eyes. I wasn't going to be pulled down to her level. "But he's hiding something, ain't he? Everyone knows it. Duncan Langieas has a big secret and I want you to tell me what it is."

"A secret? Really, Andy?" I laughed it off like she was insane. I couldn't exactly confide in my cousin about what I had heard the day before. She was a blabber mouth, never able to keep a secret. The whole school would know and then Duncan would be in some serious shit then. I knew I had to keep it to myself.

The rest of the day was spent wondering about my boyfriend. We weren't supposed to keep secrets from each other, right? We were supposed to be a team, the two of us together. But we were hiding secrets. That wasn't right. I realised Duncan wasn't the only one not confessing. I know my story had been all over the news, but I was slowly coming to see that Duncan was acting like he had no idea because he was waiting for me to tell him about it. He needed to hear it as if it was a private story to tell, a secret of my own.

Laura had told Duncan that he couldn't tell me his secret, but I wondered if I shared my own then he would feel like he should share his. It was worth a try. We were both curious about each other, and this was a good way to find out a bit more.

"You okay there, beautiful?" Duncan wraps his arm around my shoulder as we drive back to my house after school.

"Two hands on the wheel, Duncan!" I snap in reply and he quickly jolts away from me to keep up with my driving rules. He liked to drive manually, so I allowed him to do so as long as his hands were on the wheel, eyes were on the road and he understood the speed limit.

"I was thinking," I mumbled, now feeling guilty for yelling at him. "If you're not busy tonight, maybe we could go to Fern Valley."

"Fern Valley? Where's that?" Duncan replied, and I couldn't believe he'd never heard of it.

Fern Valley was a sort of mountain on the outskirts of our large town. You drive up it for fifteen minutes and you arrive at a clearing. It overlooked our town with added breath-taking beauty. Not many people drove up there, but everyone at least knew where it was. At least I thought they did. My father had taken me up there a few times when I was a little girl. He told me it was my kingdom and I was their Princess. For a seven year old, that was incredible.

"I'll pick you up at eight and drive us up there." I told him matter-of-factly. I was determined to go through with the plan my mind had formed.

"You're going to drive?"

"Yes I am."

Duncan didn't argue like I secretly wished he would. I wanted to start driving again; I hadn't been behind a wheel of a car since two days before the accident. I _needed_ to start driving again before I forgot how to and had to retake my test. That was a memory I didn't want repeated.

But true to my word, I unlocked my car door at 7:50PM. It smelt like no tomorrow because it had been so long. So I whipped out the air freshener and cleaned it up a bit. I was heading into the posh part of town now; I couldn't let anything as small as smell get the better of my already not-too-expensive car.

I double checked the address Duncan had given me and braced myself for what was about to happen. I backed out of the garage and down the beaten track to the road. I inhaled a deep breath and continued forward. I was driving automatic-not able to handle driving manual-the steering wheel hidden in the dashboard, but it was dark out and I was panicking. My foot was barely touching the pedals because I didn't want to go too fast, or any kind of fast if I could help it.

It took ten minutes longer than it should have, but I did get to Duncan's house-if it could even be called that. It stood at about four stories, classic brick layout with a long drive-way that led to the back. Tall glass windows made up the side wall and high balconies came from a few of the top rooms. It looked unlived in, as if it was there just for the show, but Duncan stood outside, his foot propped up behind him as he leaned on the outside pillar.

"I don't get to see inside?" I playfully pouted and he shrugged as he hopped into the passenger seat.

"It's filled with old men right now, looks rather like a nursing home gone wild." He replied, making me giggle. "You can come in later, if you really want to."

We drove mostly in silence, ranging from awkward to uncomfortable. He obviously had nothing to say and I was too afraid of bringing up the secret. It still bothered me that I didn't know what it was, sometimes getting to a point where my stomach clenched into a tight knot of anxiety. But I knew it was better when people respected your privacy. No one respected my privacy at school.

"Oh, this is Fern Valley." My boyfriend mumbled into his hand as he stared up at the mountain. "I'm not stupid, just didn't know the name." I smiled and gave his other hand a squeeze. I went to pull away but he held onto me tightly, like he didn't want to lose me. It made me feel safe, made me feel wanted for once.

It was more silence as we ascended up the mountain side, but it was easier, more natural. We were comfortable in each other's presence. And as soon as we arrived in the clearing the air turned romantic.

Duncan stepped out first, rushing around to my side to open the door for me. I smiled wider at the gesture. He took my hand and we moved closer to the edge. There was a wooden fence around the clearing, making sure no one over stepped the mark to death. During the day the green plants ran wild, but at night they looked like a poisonous tar, seeping through the cold air.

I placed my hands on the fence and Duncan placed his on either side of mine, standing behind me. The view was as magical as I recalled. Thick clouds of darkness were rolling overhead, but the lights of our town and the neighboring towns twinkled under the starless sky.

"I see why you like it here," Duncan whispered to me. His voice sent tingles over my body, making me shiver under his breath. "Are you cold? Do you want my jacket?" But I shook my head. It wasn't particularly cold, and I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a scarf. Though, maybe I would have to fake being cold just to get my hands on a piece of clothing that smelled like him.

I took his hand in mine again and led him back over to the car. I climbed onto the bonnet and Duncan soon got the idea to do the same. It felt special sitting there with Duncan, staring over the mountain side to the few hundreds of people who were getting on with their nightly lives. It felt special because I had never done this with Trent. I'd never felt brave enough to bring him up here. But Duncan brought out a strange confidence and courage combination from me whenever we were together. And I was going to need that confidence and courage for what I was about to do.

"I want to tell you something," I mumbled and Duncan turned to look at me. "I want you to know what happened the night of the accident."

"Courtney, you don't-"

"Yes. I do. This is my biggest secret and I want to share it with you be-because I think...I think I'm falling in love with you, Duncan. I get butterflies in my stomach and can't help but smile like an idiot when you're here, and then I'm the most miserable person when you're gone. I wish I could spend every moment with you, because every moment I'm with you it feels like there's nothing wrong in the world. And I think...I think that's because I love you."

I waited a second too long for a response, but I didn't get one. Duncan kept looking at me, but I stared straight ahead as I continued to speak, "Trent and I had been on a date. It was a Saturday during November and that meant the winter carnival was open. It was perfect. Until the drive home."

_I stared out the window at the water lapping around the bridge. It would have been ice cold by that point in winter, but not yet frozen over. Trent was driving just over the speed limit; fast enough to feel that adrenaline rush but not fast enough to get pulled over. We were heading back to his house; his parents were at a charity function. The closer we got, the more my nerves kicked in. I would not be a virgin for very much longer. _

_"You look tense." He smiled, carefully looking over at me. "Second thoughts?"_

_"No," I smiled shyly back. "I was just thinking how tense you looked, actually." I took my seatbelt off and scooted closer to him on the benched seat. Trent was trying to look at me without taking his eyes of the road and he opened his mouth to tell me something, but I seductively placed my finger over his lips. My hand lowered to his knee and began slowly moving up and down his upper leg. I could feel Trent shifting as my eyes were tightly closed. I was scared of what I was doing, but I didn't stop. My hand continued to rub his leg and I knew he was fighting back the groans in his throat. _

_"C-Courtney-" He didn't tell me to stop when my hand started undoing his button and zipper. But we both got too caught up in the bliss if the moment. My eyes flew open at the sound of the screeching horn. It was too late. The truck in front swerved and skidded, causing Trent to press down on the brakes and turn to avoid it. The road turned icy and before it turned black I remember being submerged in the icy water below. _

_I drifted in and out of consciousness as something held an oxygen mask to me. A robot had been a witness and dived in to save us. I started to panic, looking around for Trent, but the robot dragged me from the car before I could find him. _

_I was immediately taken to hospital with mangled limbs, pneumonia and a serious head concussion. I was unconscious for the first three days as doctors operated. When I woke on the fourth day, I was told the bad news._

I shifted on the bonnet, recalling what had been said, "My father told me that the robot had saved me first, he calculated I had a higher chance of survival. By the time he went back down to rescue Trent, it was already too late. He had received head trauma from the impact and due to not getting treated in time..."

Duncan wrapped his arms around me, holding me close and whispering 'I love you' into my temple. I sobbed into his shoulder and he stroked my hair. At least now someone knew what had happened that night.

"The robot made the wrong choice." I tell him when I'm not crying so heavily. "But it was my fault we'd ended up crashing in the first place. If I hadn't been a stupid, horny teenager then Trent would have seen the truck skidding before the horn sounded off."

"It is not your fault," Duncan tried to assure me, but I knew it was.

A/N: Bet that title threw you off, huh? Bet ya thought it was Duncan's secret coming out xD  
BUT DUNCAN'S SECRET DOESN'T START TO COME OUT UNTIL NEXT CHAPTER!  
Right at the very end of the next chapter, there will be...Something that starts to chain commotion of Duncan's secret. And chapter 15 will be when it comes out completely because, after visiting Andy, Courtney goes to see Duncan and his father at the medical center...Oooooh! SPOILERS XD ...So, as a final question; what do you think Duncan's secret is now?

hahaha!

So, Andy says something about it not being a make-out session unless there is groping. And that is a paraphrased quote from Aaron (if you don't know who he is, then you do not know anything about me...clearly ;)) way back when I was writing the original version of Why High School Sucks. During the party scene where Bex and Mason sneak off to the bedroom before the cops arrive, they make-out...And I always remember Aaron telling me that it's not a make-out session without a little groping. I thought it was just something that Andy would say xD

Fern Valley Mountain came to me after having a very strange memory of watching A Cinderella Story. You know at the end where they drive up to the clearing and look over at the Valley, I'm pretty sure it's in the beginning too...Anyway! That sortta seemed like the perfect setting to me for them to have a serious talk.

'He told me it was my kingdom and I was their Princess.' That came to me after rereading Fireflies (A Hunger Games FanFic I'm writing). There's a part in the prologue where Katniss' father tells her that everything she can see from her window is her kingdom. I thought it was a sweet father-daughter moment, so I shoved it into this story too xD

I totally made Duncan's house up from the top of my head...

And there is another I, Robot reference when Courtney says the robot calculated she had the higher chance of survival.

Thank you to;

Jo9y: hahaha! I aim to entertain xD We're almost at the secret telling now! hahaha! Thank you :D

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Yay! Oh shit...Tell me about the Leyna fic! Thanks :D

Pinkpsychoprincess: hahahaha! Well, the curiosity is almost over...Ah, is he? ;) Thank you :D

You guys are awesome! I love you!

Thanks for reading please review (:

You're gonna wanna stay tuned for the next two chapters at least ;)

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	14. Doomed for Shock

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Doomed for Shock**

Saturday morning was a bad one. My alarm clock went off at 7 and I ended up throwing it at the window-which Giorgio had, luckily, not opened yet-before rolling over and falling back into my dreamland.

By the time I was ready to get out of bed, five hours later, I instantly noticed the absence of my boyfriend. He hadn't spent the night. My parents would freak. But he had been there every morning the past week. I felt like something had been taken away from me. Again.

So I grabbed my cell, more than ready to call him, but there was already a text there. I'd dropped him home around midnight, refusing upon his offer to go in for a bit. I was too tired. But I couldn't sleep when I finally got home, so we spent another three hours talking on Facebook. And, apparently, at four AM, an hour after I crashed, Duncan texted saying;

Won't be able to see you in the morning :( Pick you up at midday?

I smiled. Another day with Duncan was just what the doctor ordered. After I spilled about the accident, he never did the same. Duncan's secret was still locked tightly away from me. However, I did feel a sense of relief now that he knew what had happened that night, and he hadn't judged me over it one bit like everyone else had. I don't know what I was so scared of before, I should have known Duncan wasn't like everyone else at that school. I underestimated him, but he pulled through and showed me he was the exact person I needed.

Pulling up on Facebook, the first thing to appear on my newsfeed was exactly what I dreaded.

'Andrea 'Andy' Martenelli went from being in a relationship to single'

I cursed out that asshole she, once again, called her ex-boyfriend. I knew he would hurt her like this again, he did it every time. I made a mental note to call her later.

The excitement of my Facebook friends included DJ Thomas getting hired at Muskoka animal shelter, Lindsay Turner breaking a nail and, my personal favorite, Heather Lee talking shit about me. I didn't know what I had done to piss her off, but that girl had painted a target on my forehead the past few days.

I waited around for Duncan, wondering why he wasn't able to come over this morning. A million different reasons swam through my head. None of them stuck. I was being stupid. But when he honked his horn to signal his arrival, I had never wanted to get into his car so much. I grabbed my purse from the counter and yelled a goodbye to Giorgio.

"Hey, beautiful." My boyfriend leaned over and pressed his lips to my temple as soon as I was buckled in. "I'm so sorry, Princess. I promise to make it up to you."

"It's okay," I smiled, gently pressing my lips to his. "I have you to myself now, that's all I care about." He smiled back and readjusted himself in the driver's seat. "Where are we off to today?"

"Have you eaten?"

"Nope. Giorgio's making a casserole, so I stayed outta the kitchen."

"Well, dad cooked a mean breakfast for us, but I guess we can stop for something for you."

"You don't-"

"You have to eat," Duncan replied. "What kind of Hu-boyfriend would I be if I didn't let you eat?" And, as if rehearsed, my stomach let out a low growl. "I'm not the only one to think so."

So Duncan drove us to a nearby cafe, just off the main road. I had never been there before, but Duncan insisted someone he knew had highly recommended the place. One cheeseburger, plate of fries and large chocolate milkshake later, I knew exactly why. Duncan didn't eat anything, but he did have some of the milkshake. Or at least pretended to. It never went down when he 'drank', making me just a bit suspicious. However, I had no time to be suspicious of him. I intended to spend as much quality time with my boyfriend as possible. I had learnt that you never know how long you have with someone from Trent; I didn't want a repeat performance.

"Where to next?" I asked, a little irritated after Duncan insisted on paying for my meal.

"I was hoping we could go for a walk amongst the woodland, get lost in the trees," he smirked in reply. 'Get lost in the trees' was slang for 'make-out in the woods' in our town. It started a few years ago when daughters didn't want their fathers to shoot their boyfriends. Not that I would ever have to worry about that. I hadn't spoken to my parents in weeks. But the thought of getting lost in the trees with Duncan made my stomach clench in knots of anticipation.

I took his hand and led us out the cafe door. We strolled over to the edge of the trees and slowly walked through the gaps. I hadn't ventured into the woods in a long time, and even then it hadn't been this part.

"What if we get lost?" I asked in a small voice, my hand automatically clinging onto Duncan's a lot tighter.

"Don't worry, Princess," he mumbled, pressing a kiss to the crown of my head. "I'm like a walking GPS."

I had no reason not to believe him, but it did make me think about the last time I had been in the woods. It had been Bridgette's sixteenth birthday slumber party and we had all snuck out at 3AM with torches to play tag in the woods (because we thought we were the coolest like that). It was a lot of fun...until we lost Katie and Bridgette's cousin, Sadie. We found them hiding out in a cave on the far side of the woods, both looking terrified and shaking like mad. Something had spooked them, but they never said what.

I was taken from the memory when my back hit a tree. Duncan ran his fingers down my cheek, catching my chin in his palm and leaning down, softly pressing his lips to mine. I pushed my hands into his mohawk, savoring the metallic taste that came with his tongue. His hands found my thighs and he lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around him, pushing myself deeper into the tree as I pulled Duncan closer. I couldn't get enough of him. But my breath ran short.

I would be lying if I said I never wanted to do that again. But the woods were a public place and I spotted a paved pathway just over Duncan's shoulder. Anyone could have walked past and seen us, so I dropped myself back to the floor and tried to regain my balance.

Duncan and I continued walking down the path, not saying a word, just swinging our hands between us like little children on a field trip. It felt right to be there with him. It felt natural. Normal, even. I had never felt like something was right before, but now I knew that this was it. This was what it genuinely felt like to be in love.

We found ourselves exiting the woods on a quieter side of town. It was a beautiful side to town; small houses dotted around weathered roads, grass growing greener and Muskoka Lake glittering under the strong sun. I had passed through this part of town many times. It was a well-travelled route for most residents of Muskoka as it was one of the easiest ways to get in and out of our town, and a lot of people came in and out of our town.

Together, we strolled down the street, just admiring the view. It wasn't like the run-down part where I lived or the posh part where Duncan lived. It was quaint and beautiful.

"Court..." We stopped by an old, brick wall. I noticed Duncan staring down below and I took note that the train tracks ran off into the distance. But Duncan was staring almost directly below. I moved closer, leaning up on my toes and trying to spot what Duncan was looking at. "Is that Andy?" I scrunched my face at him, releasing his hand and pushing myself up further until I saw what he meant. A teenage girl was sitting on the tracks, her back turned to us. And it was Andy.

I started to panic. My cousin was sitting on train tracks and the 2PM train would be arriving any minute now. I was frantic trying to look for a way down. Duncan pulled me back towards him, his hands on my shoulders.

"Calm down, the steps are over there," he motioned his head over his shoulder. I ran towards them and Duncan closely followed, pulling the gate open for me when I fumbled with the lock. I didn't wait for him, though; I raced down the metal ladder like my life depended on it. But it didn't. Andy's life depended on it.

I gave her a shock when I dived in front of her, crouching low, resting my hands on her shoulders and shaking her like a rag doll.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" I screamed, scaring away some nearby birds. "Andy! Look at me!" I tugged on my cousin's chin so she would have to meet my eyes. I expected anger, fear, sadness. But I only saw my own reflection in her wide, dark eyes. "Andy..." My voice calmed, "what's going on? Why are you sitting here? You know the train is coming through any minute now...Don't do this, Andy."

"I have to," she whimpered, tears stringing together in her lifeless eyes. "I have no reason to keep living now."

"What are you talking about? Of course you do! Andy, you have got your whole life ahead of you. And I swear to the heavens when I get my hands on that fucking asshole-"

"Don't!" She cried, her face flushed. Andy was trying to hold it all back, but she couldn't. We knew each other too well to not know how we worked. She was my only cousin (with the exception of her sisters), I grew up thinking she was my long lost twin sister, I imagined us growing old together, being the miscreant old ladies who chased each other around in our chairs. Seeing my cousin so unnerved, so uneven, so unsure about herself...It moved something deep inside of me.

"Courtney," Duncan spoke my name and I turned to face him just as I heard the distant train whistle. There wasn't much time.

Turning back to my cousin, I grabbed both her shoulders again, speaking directly to her, "Alejandro is not worth taking your life over, do you understand?" Andy shook her head 'no' and there was another train whistle sounding. "You are going to grow up and meet the man of your dreams. You are going to get married, have half a dozen kids and live the happily ever after you deserve."

Another train whistle. It was getting closer. "Courtney." Duncan's warning tone broke through the silence.

Andy shook her head vigorously.

"I'm not letting you do this, Andy." I stated, refusing to let my cousin win this battle against herself. "It hurts. I know it hurts like crazy. You know how badly I hurt over Trent. You know he was my first love and there is no getting over your first love, but you have to. You have to put your happiness first, not your misery. You've seen how much I love Duncan, how much he means to me. There is a man out there waiting for you, Andy, you have to get up and find him. Alejandro is an asshole, we both know it, everyone knows it. He repeatedly hurt you and, quite frankly, I never understood why you kept going back to him. But now I know it's because you love him. You need to understand Andy that just because he doesn't love you back it does not mean you have to do something crazy like this. It is a permanent solution for a temporary problem."

"COURTNEY!" Duncan called just as the train let out a final whistle, it sounded as if it was right behind me, and, for all I know, it was. But I wasn't moving until my cousin did too.

"Andy, come on, we have to move." I tugged on her hand, but she drew back, her head moving side to side in another shake. "Andy! Listen to me! We need to move!" I noticed my voice was stern, an overprotective mother tone.

"COURTNEY!" Duncan was frantic. I estimated we had 30 seconds left and my heart began to race. I didn't want to die, but I wasn't going to move.

I could see Duncan bouncing on the tips of his toes, not knowing what to do with himself. I could tell he knew that calling my name again was pointless, but he needed to do something. I could feel the train rushing up behind me, the brakes screeching as the driver didn't want to hit two teenagers on the track. But it wasn't going to be enough.

As I concentrated on my cousin's face, preparing for death, I saw my boyfriend start running out of the corner of my eye. He ran in the direction of the train. The sound of crashing metal distracted me enough to gasp and jump to me feet.

My heart couldn't take the sight of Duncan holding the train back with his bare hands. His blue eyes turned to stare at me, "MOVE!" He yelled in urgency. "I CAN'T KEEP HOLDING IT!"

I was in shock, but not as much shock as Andy. I quickly grabbed her arm and hauled her off the tracks, onto the grass bank at the opposite side. I collapsed next to her, my mouth still hanging open and our eyes fixing back on him just in time to see his left arm rip away from his body as he fell to the floor on the tracks, the train running straight over him.

A/N: HOLY SHIT!

Uh yeah...Shit just got real...

hahahahaha! I don't know what would compel me to say that...But let's go with it xD

It's been a while since the last update...Where have I been? WRITING THIS! I swear it guys. I was writing and writing and trying to get this to be just as I imagined...Obviously, it hasn't turned out that way. But I don't wanna waste any more time on it!

The secret comes out next...  
Though, I'm sure most of ya'll will have a good idea of it now ;)  
It will be confirmed soon...

I told ya'll I needed Andy there for the secret to come out! I had this planned since around chapter 3...

Thank you to;

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: YAY! BUSSES AND TRANSITION DAYS! I used to love it when the Year 6's came to school for Transition days...Everyone would look at them like 'FRESH MEAT!' XD hahaha! Oh yes, gotta stay PG ;) And the fact that Duncan is oblivious to girls and Courtney isn't going to push anything after what happened with Trent last time she 'tested the waters' ;) hahahahaha! Thank you :D

Jo9i: Ah...Almost secret time xD Not too bad? It's going to destroy her...In a good way :D ...That is if you can get destroyed in a good way...haha! Thanks :D

kutiekat44: Next chapter! Thank you :D

You guys RAWK!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	15. Secrets Hurt More Than Dismembered Arms

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Secrets Hurt More Than Dismembered Arms**

The room was white. It smelt clean, a dentist taste in the air. The chair I sat on was uncomfortable. There was silence. The silence made it easier to think. But I didn't want to think. I tried thinking of the little things, but the big things were pushing their way to the front of my mind.

Andy was lying in the bed, white sheets crumpled in her fists. Her breathing was shallow and her eyes were fixed on the ceiling, not even blinking. At least she was alive.

A passerby had dialed the all-important number and the police and paramedics had all arrived on the scene before the train had even passed. The vehicle had stopped with the last carriage 20 feet ahead from where Andy had been sitting. An officer went to talk to the driver while others kept all the passengers on board. I only knew this from listening in on conversations at the center I was in. A paramedic had instantly rushed to me while three others had to sedate my hysterical cousin. I was fine, in a total state of shock so bad that I couldn't move nor speak, but fine. My cousin and I were escorted to the medical center near-by where an officer had tried to speak with us, but we hadn't said a word. My mind was on one thing and one thing only; Duncan.

His arm had torn off; he had been trampled by a train. But he also left a dent in the front engine where his hands had collided with it. _Metal crushing metal_, was the term the investigator had used.

_'"I was genetically designed"'_

_'A metallic taste rang through my mouth'_

_'"I don't usually sleep a lot."'_

_'As if he had been programmed to be this good'_

_'"I'm like a walking GPS."'_

_'Ticking of his heart'_

_'"As long as you can accept me for _what _I am"'_

_'Duncan didn't eat anything, but he did have some of the milkshake. Or at least pretended to. It never went down when he 'drank''_

_'"My dad is working on a new kind of robot. A robot that is more human than robot."_

It made sense. The pieces came together like when you arranged a jigsaw without knowing what the picture would be. But I could see the picture now.

Duncan was a robot.

"Go see him, Courtney," Aunt Shari had whispered to me once Andy had finally drifted to sleep. It had been a stressful day for the whole family. My parents hadn't rushed to come see me or my cousin after the brief phone call I had had with them, but my aunt and uncle did. They were caring and concerned parents. Their daughter had tried to kill herself and their niece had just had her second brush with death within six months.

I did as I was told. It took courage, but my legs picked me up off the chair and carried me down the hallway. I knew where he was staying; the nurses and doctors whispered about it. A robot being treated at a medical center? It was unheard of. Robots worked at the medical center, but if they were ever broken or needed a new part, they were sent away to a garage or factory. This was a first for everyone involved.

He was sitting cross-legged on the white hospital bed, his phone balancing on one knee as he scrolled with his fingers. His left arm was on the table next to him surrounded by a few complicated looking tools. He didn't look like himself. He looked different to me. Not the same boy I had met in History class...maybe because he was no longer a boy. He was a machine.

"H-Hey," my mouth moved, but the word was like a breath of air. He heard it, though. Super-sensitive hearing. Duncan looked up, his blue eyes locking on mine. Those chilling, blue eyes...they were just as attention grabbing as they had been the first time I had seen them, still holding me captive even after all these weeks.

"Hey," he smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling? How am I feeling? You're the one who got ran over by a fucking train! You're the one who is sitting there with his arm detached! Duncan...!" I wanted to scream and yell and let all of my frustrations out right then, but I couldn't. His innocence was shown in the way he was looking at me. That sweet, childlike curiosity he had like he was learning everything for the first time.

"Just say it," he whimpered. I should have felt sympathy and remorse. But he was a robot. A ROBOT.

"YOU'RE A CAN-OPENER!" I screamed at him, my emotions overriding my thoughts. The lies, the betrayal. I had fallen for it all. Everything he had said, everything that had happened. I felt so used.

"Should I come back later?" Both of us turned out attention to a man stood in the doorway of the room. I hadn't noticed how far I had stepped into the room until I was no longer looking at Duncan.

Behind me stood a small man, not even out of the four foot height range. He definitely had some extra weight to spare and his hair was almost completely gone from on top of his head, leaving an odd grey bush around it, though. The man was dressed in a white and red checkered shirt, black pants and a traditional white lab coat with a pen and pair of glasses sticking from the top of the breast pocket.

"Oh no, I was just leaving," I mumbled, slowing turning my gaze towards Duncan and backing from the room.

"Don't leave on my account, darling," the old man smiled sweetly at me as he entered the room, setting his briefcase down on the floor and commanding Duncan to take his shirt off. "Or am I making this awkward for you two?" He asked, propping his glasses on the end of his nose and regarding the pair of us over them.

"We don't you to make this awkward, dad," Duncan muttered, fumbling with the end of his shirt. Professor Langieas chuckled deep in his throat. I had never seen Duncan without a shirt on, but it was the best sight I had ever seen. He was perfect, almost photo shopped. Then again, I guessed he was. Tanned skin, six-pack. I also saw the tape over his right side. Any normal person would have thought it was hiding an ugly appendix scar, everyone at school thought it was a tattoo. I knew better than that now. It was an issue code. All robots had to have one.

I didn't know how to feel standing in a room with the most famous scientist in the world and his latest project, also known as my boyfriend. It was not an average situation.

"Why don't you take a seat, Miss...?"

"C-Courtney." Mental slap. "I'm Courtney."

"Well, it is lovely to finally meet you Courtney," Prof. Langieas continued to smile at me. "I'm Paul. And right now I need you to come hold this idiots arm in place for me, if you don't mind." This was the weirdest moment of my life. But I nodded politely and sat on the hospital bed beside Duncan. Paul picked up Duncan's arm and moved it into the correct position, connecting all sorts of wires and showing me where to place my hands to hold it still. He collected a welding tool from the table and began moving it around the joint at Duncan's shoulder. I could hear a small fizzle from where the silver glue looking liquid sealed the two pieces of 'flesh' together. "That should do it," Prof. Langieas mumbled, placing the tool back down. I moved my hands and Duncan's arm didn't fall off. He rotated his shoulder muscle and flexed his left arm. You never would have guessed it had come clean off. The only evidence was the silver liquid that had gone hard now, but I suspected that would clean off. "Try not to jump in front of any more trains."

I suppressed my smile. I was still mad and angry and confused and upset. All my emotions were targeting Duncan directly through my eyes into his. I couldn't tell if he knew how I was feeling. I doubted he could because we sat in almost silence, only Prof. Langieas rifling through his now opened briefcase.

"I should get going. See if Andy's awake o-or show my parents I'm s-still alive." I didn't know why I was so nervous. Maybe it was being around a robot. They always had me on edge.

"I'll call you later," Duncan told me, but I didn't reply as I took one last look at him before I fled the room.

I didn't go home like I should have, I went back to see my cousin. She was awake again, restless in her need to not be confined to a small room. I could see some weird form of ADD taking shape as she bounced around on the bed.

"They said they weren't going to keep me in for long," Andy muttered, her dark eyes darting around the room, unable to focus. "When can I leave, Court? You got to leave! Why can't I? Where did you go?"

"Andy, you know why you can't leave. They might put you on watch." I answered, avoiding the final question. Andy didn't need to know about me and Duncan. I didn't even know about me and Duncan. Where did all of this trauma leave us? He said he was going to call, but I had no intentions of answering. I was too hurt and confused to deal with him in person-even though he wasn't one. I needed to get things straight inside my mind before I knew where I wanted to be stood. MY BOYFRIEND IS A ROBOT! Is that even legal? Coming from the daughter of two lawyers, I highly doubted it. And what was I to do about it? I still, deep down, loved him like he was really human.

One thing struck in my mind, though; Laura was right.

_'But, just know, that girl has suffered great heartache once already. You're only going to put her through the same thing.'_

And he had. My heart ached and there was nothing to be done about it. A/N: HOLY SHIT!

Anyone? Anyone at all still breathing? Or have I given the lot of ya heart attacks over this?

Congrats to Pinkpsychoprincess who guessed Duncan was a robot, and to Jo9i who managed to get everything correct! Right down to Duncan's freakin' issue code!

I was giving you guy's subtle hints the entire time!  
And then when those two guessed it, I had to not give it away xD hahahaha! I'm sorry guys, but you were right with your guessing xD

And never fret...This story is NOT over yet xD  
I still have a few more chapters to go ;P

Thank you to;

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Heart Vacancy is an EPICLY sad song! I love it. haha! Yeah...Because all Twilight was missing in the long run was the suicidal cousin ;) hahaha! LOVE YOU TOO! Thank you :D

Jo9i: You can't react to that! Stunned is good xD hahaha! Thanks :D

IGotAStoryToTell: Poor Duncan! Thank you :D

KutieKat44: NO MORE TEASING! I promise...The secret is OUT! Thanks :D

EEEEP!

Looks like I got ya'll excited for this chapter xD

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	16. Reality Check

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Reality Check**

It had been three weeks. Three weeks of nothing but ignoring his phone calls and avoiding his texts. I know I shouldn't have, he really wanted to explain himself. But my mind could not deal with him right then. I was still so conflicted with my feelings towards him. He had lied to me. For weeks and weeks he had lied to me. I confessed my feelings for him and I told him exactly what had happened that night with Trent. That had hurt me deeply when I got it off my chest. And he had pretended to care and give me sympathy. But he was a robot. Robots did not have feelings. They were machines; just metal and circuitry.

"That is it," Katie slammed her lunch tray down on table. "I am fed up of your moping, Court. You are coming to mine for the end of junior year sleepover tonight and that is final."

"No, Katie-" I tried to protest.

"Hey! Andy!" The gossip girl yelled across the cafeteria to my cousin, "slumber party at mine tonight?" Andy forced her way through the heavy crowd towards us, taking the seat that once belonged to both my boyfriends.

"Sure thing," she smiled in eagerness. "You just have to call my mom and double check it with her."

Aunt Shari had closed a clamp around her eldest daughter. Ever since the train incident Andy was not allowed out of her sight with the exception of school. Aunt Shari dropped her off at 8:30 and picked her up at 3:00PM sharp. Andy was in so much trouble for trying to kill herself. She was now in therapy with Laura (who, just for the record, had known about Duncan the whole time), like I still was. Though, my sessions with Laura had taken a leap backwards as I now just sat in silence most of the time like I had in the beginning.

The hospital had not deemed Andy dangerous to herself or others and she had been back a school a week after being discharged. Aunt Shari thought it was too soon, but Andy refused to stay at home any longer under the constant eye of her mother. She had complained about it non-stop that entire first week back.

"Katie, I don't want to go."

"Courtney Isabella Garcia!" Katie snapped, dropping her fist to the table. "I will not let you stay home tonight. DJ, tell her." She huffed, dropping to her seat beside her boyfriend.

DJ looked up at me with his dark brown eyes, "Katie is right, Court," he told me, "you can't stay in forever. You need to get out there and socialize. Go to the party."

"Then it has been decided." Katie nodded at her boyfriend once, "Thank you, DJ." I knew it was no longer up for discussion. No matter what I wanted, there was no arguing with Katie when she was in one of her demanding moods; it was a school-wide fact.

Later that night, when I drove myself to Katie's upper East-side house, I knew I was going to be attacked by the girls. They had all been laying low for a while, not asking anything about anyone. They wouldn't stay that way forever, though. And a slumber party seemed like a good way for them to bombard me with their questions. I didn't know if I was ready for that, but there was no way out of it. If I called a sickie all the girls would show up on my doorstep (I am not lying when I say it has happened several times before) and if I just didn't show up my phone would be overrun with calls and texts, and I would not be able to live it down for months. There was no getting out of the slumber party, so I packed my bag and went.

Aunt Shari was standing just inside the front door, talking with Mrs Ramonez. I parked behind my aunt's car and walked up to the house. It was large and quite up-market (though, nowhere near to the standard Duncan's was). I had been there countless times and was always amazed. The Ramonez's were known for being a wealthy family, owning large masses of land and such. Katie had mentioned it to me before, but she wasn't too interested. The family business was not something she cared about as long as she still got everything she wanted out of it, which she did. Katie had everything any girl could dream of. While yes, my parents both had successful jobs, we still lived in a small house on the not-so-posh side of town and they had tried all their lives not to over spoil me. It had worked. Not that I ever minded. But it was days when I showed up to Katie's house that I wondered what would have happened if my parents were cheap assholes.

"Already in your jim-jams, Court?" Aunt Shari smiled, pulling me in for a one armed hug. I was already in my tank top and shorts, a gym bag slung over my shoulder. I didn't want to waste time getting dressed later on and no one was going to see me.

"You know me," I muttered. "Always prepared before everyone else."

"The girls are in the living room," Mrs Ramonez nodded towards an open door before continuing her conversation with my aunt. I knew my way around; Katie and I had been friends since third grade.

I left them to it and walked towards the living room. It had been redecorated since the last time I had been there. It was now painted white with a matching corner piece sofa located in the center of the room. The far wall was a large glass sliding door and on the adjoining wall was the breakfast bar that led to the kitchen behind it.

The girls were all gathered on the white carpet in front of the TV and it looked like I was the last to arrive. I didn't notice what had captured their attention until I had kicked off my shoes and got myself comfortable on the sofa.

"Professor Langieas, what drove you to create such a new type of robot?"

My eyes flickered to the screen and standing behind a glass podium was Prof. Langieas. He was in a conference room of some sorts with hundreds of reporters surrounding him.

"It started as a little self-project," he explained, his white knuckles gripping the sides of the podium. Out of anger or to keep his balance, I wasn't sure. "My wife, God rest her soul, had encouraged me to build a new kind of robot, something that no one would expect."

The crowd burst out into calling his attention, screaming his name and hoping to be picked on. Prof. Langieas pointed his finger towards a young man in the back.

"Kelvin Jones, Muskoka news at ten," the young man spoke in a deep voice. "Where did the idea for a robot that could pass as a human come from?"

"I'm a scientist, an engineer and a mechanic all rolled into one. But what I am not is a doctor. However, almost two years ago a young man had his entire right arm, shoulder and chest torn off in a boating accident down on the lake. The doctors didn't think he would survive, but someone had the idea of putting a machine in him. I created a new lung, several ribs, collar bone, shoulder blade, arm, hand and fingers for this man. They all fitted together perfectly and I built fake skin to cover it up, making like nothing was wrong. It worked. No one suspected a thing," Professor Langieas explained. "So I got thinking; if I can make a man like a machine, why can't I make a machine like a man?"

"Why are we watching this?" I asked with sigh.

"Shh!" The girls all cried back at me, their attention never turning from the screen. I never had any of them down as robot fanatics, so this was definitely something else. It didn't take a scientist to know why they were watching. Duncan was bound to make an appearance. He had been on several newscasts over the past few days.

"Professor Langieas, where is the experiment now?" Another reporter asked, shoving a camera in the kind, old man's face.

"EXPERIMENT?!" Andy screeched and all the girls shook their head in disapproval. I did have to admit, I felt a twang of emotion in my soul at the thought of Duncan being called an experiment. After spending so much time with him I knew he was more than that.

"Shh!" I pretended to mock. But I was starting to get concerned about what Duncan was doing. He called a lot, I knew that, but what was he doing in between? Robots usually cooked and cleaned and stood awkwardly in rooms with nothing to do. Duncan wasn't like that. Duncan liked being sociable and...human.

"Duncan is at home," he explained without hesitation or care. "I presume he is watching TV, arguing with his brothers or still trying to get through to his girlfriend on the phone. Normal teenage boy stuff." All eyes in the room turned to me and, right on cue, my phone started beeping.

"I'm not going to get that," I told the girls. Bad move. They pounced. I shrieked as the whole cheerleading squad, minus Heather, plus Bridgette and Andy, all jumped me at once. They each tried to grab my phone while I tried to keep it away from them. We fought and tugged hard over the small device in my hands, somehow knocking us over the back of the sofa and rolling on the floor as they tried to pry my cell from my hands.

"Uhh...Hello?" Freeze! We all stopped and stared at my phone. I had hit answer and then speaker phone. Duncan had momentarily been listening to our brawl. I felt my cheeks flush and my phone being taken from my hand, but I was in a total state of shock.

"Hey, Duncan, it's Andy," my cousin smiled down the line even if he couldn't see her. "No, we weren't doing anything, just watching TV." All of us were staring at her; the rest of the girls grinning and trying to listen in on the conversation while I sulked my way back to the sofa.

"Why are you avoiding him?" Bridgette sank down on the seat at my feet. "He's a nice guy, Court, we all know that."

"I'm just...I don't...I'm confused," I mumbled hugging my knees to my chest. I didn't want to speak any louder in case the other girls heard or even Duncan did with his great hearing even over the phone line.

"He loves you, Courtney," my best friend encouraged me to admit my feelings. "He loves you so much that he calls you every two minutes to try and make things right with you. You're being stubborn and not listening to him. Maybe you wouldn't be so confused if you did."

"Talk soon, hot stuff," the girls giggled as Andy hung up on my robot boyfriend. "He said he'll call you tomorrow." My cousin told me, placing the small device back in my out-stretched hand. I knew he would call tomorrow. Multiple times. And if I didn't answer, he would do it every day for the rest of my life. I was sure of it.

"Is he a good kisser?" Katie eagerly questioned me, leaning over the back of the sofa.

"W-What?" I replied, a smile breaking out on my face. The question caught me off guard. "I don't know. He's alright, I guess...I mean, as far as kissing goes..."

"Someone's blushing!" Lindsay squeaked in delight. I hid my face behind a cushion.

"How good does he look shirtless?" Someone else asked. I don't know why I said it, but I replied, "So good!" And we all burst into a fit of squeals and giggles.

"You must be the first person to ever make-out with a robot," Andy told me. But I shook my head, a smile super-glued to my face as my eyes rolled towards Katie.

"That was one time! And I was really nervous!" More laughs from the group and the girls begging her to tell then the story. "It was before my second date with DJ. I thought we were going to kiss and I had no experience, so I told Bray to help me practice." Everyone was in hysterics by the end of the night.

Almost everyone had passed out by 5AM. Andy and I laid side by side, staring up at the ceiling as we listened to the snores of the others.

"I talked to him," she whispered into the darkness. "After you left and they discharged me, I told my mom I wanted to speak with him, so she let me. I just wanted to say thank you. Sometimes I do stupid things without thinking about it. We'd both be dead if it weren't for him. So I wanted to say thank you." I didn't say anything when she paused, just waited for her to inevitably start talking again. "We talked about you. How shocked you were, how hurt you were. Duncan really cares about you, just like you really care about him. Robot or not, you both love each other deeply." And then she went on to quote, "'You have to put your happiness first, not your misery. You've seen how much I love Duncan, how much he means to me. There is a man out there waiting for you, Andy, you have to get up and find him.' Remember that, won't you, Court?" She mumbled sleepily, curling up on her side away from me. "Goodnight."

I didn't say anything back. She was already unconscious anyway. My mind was full with thoughts. Thoughts of Duncan. Thoughts of Trent. Thoughts of how I was going to get myself out of this mess. I still wasn't ready to face Duncan, but I couldn't keep blowing him off forever, either. When did life become so complicated?

A/N: Well...

I don't even know what to say!

haha!

I've been quote good with these past few updates, huh?

But, I do think this story is coming to an end now :(

I have...One more chapter in mind...I don't know if I can stretch it out for much longer...Epilogue? Possibly. Sequel? If you want ;)

hahahaha! Anyone want a sequel to this?  
Bear in mind that my sequels usually SUCK! So, it may not be good...But I do have some sort of idea in my head...With a few scenes already planned out xD It would be set over the summer as it turns out the school year is ending now...

Tell me what you think of this story so far and what ou think is gonna happen next :D PLEASE!

Thank you to;

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Work sucks -.- You had nothing to be nervous about! Your speech went great! Like I told you it would! Or at least thought of the idea of telling you it would...I don't remember if I actually did... Ah well! Hmm...I guess it is. Curretly I think Like I Would is the perfect Leo/Jason/Piper song with Piper not being abole to love Jason like Leo does :crying: Send me some fics! I'm running outta good ones...Thank you :D

IGotAStoryToTell: And this story loves you ^^ Thanks :D

Kutiekat44: haha, I was dropping hints! I was trying to see if anyone would get it xD Thank you :D

Jo9i: haha! I know you did, I just kept trying to throw you off it xD Yeah...Poor Courtey...How much more hell can I put her through? ;) Thanks :D

Pinkpyschoprincess: haha! Oh , it was always coming xD Aw..If only things were that easy...Thank you :D

Who knew revealing Duncan's secret wiuld get all of ya'll to review at once xD hahahaha!

I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Thanks for reading, please review :D

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	17. Show Up and Show Off

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Show Up and Show Off**

The weekend passed in a daze of TV and throwing my phone at the wall. If Duncan called one more time-I'd what? Because there was nothing I could do without accepting the fact I had to acknowledge him. I didn't want to do that. Acknowledging Duncan meant acknowledging my feelings, and I had spent too many hours since Friday trying to bury them down deep. Deeper than deep. I wanted my feelings so long gone that I would need a map, compass and 127 hours if I needed to find them again. Not that I wanted to find them again. I couldn't deal with the stress of having too much to deal with, so I blocked everything out.

Monday morning came and I knew I would never have gotten out of bed unless I made Giorgio promise on Sunday night to not leave me alone until I got up. He kept his word and constantly bothered me until I finally heaved myself off to my bathroom.

I waited at the bus stop in silence with no one else around. But even on the bus I was practically mute. The only exception being a few one worded sentences I added to my friend's conversation. I wasn't much better at school, either. I never raised my hand to answer the questions and even when I was picked on by my teachers I would usually shrug and say I didn't know. It was odd behavior for me, everyone knew it. But they were also the people who were whispering about me in the hallways, acting as if they knew the full story of what was going on. At least they were no longer talking about the accident with Trent. Andy's accident had taken over that one by storm. But people only spoke about me and Duncan: the robot boy.

It wasn't until we were sitting in English did I even start paying attention my surroundings. I had spent the whole day in my own little bubble, ignoring the world around me. But during English class we had a visitor and Andy forced me out of my slump with a shoulder nudge.

The door to the classroom was already open to keep the cool air churning through, but it knocked anyway. The robot with the backwards baseball cap entered the room when Mr. Isaac called him in. He held up a few of the texts we had been studying the past few weeks, and I knew he was bringing them back for...him. Even his name was making me ache.

Steve stooped down to my level, bending his knees and resting his folded arms onto my desk. I already had my arms folded on my own side, my chin resting on top. We stared at each other for a moment before he broke into a smile. It irritated me, but was quite infectious.

"Hey, Courtney," he greeted.

"Hey, Steve," I replied. It was as normal as that. I liked Steve; he was one of the weirdest robots I had ever met.

"Sup, Miss Andy?" He smiled in my cousin's direction and she smiled back, but continued to do her work instead of replying. I could have sworn I saw her cheeks turn a light shade of red. I didn't even know they knew each other.

There wasn't anything for me to say to Steve, but I knew he wanted to tell me something. As I studied his face I noticed just how human he seemed. His brow was slightly scrunched in a thinking manner and he had this glint in his eyes that made it look like he had a soul in there. As much as I did like Steve, his looks were deceiving and I didn't like it. He-it-was still a robot. Just like Duncan was...

"He's just as upset as you are," he whispered to me after a little while. The class had stopped being so terribly interested in him bow and had begun their chatter once more. I know he knew there was always someone looking for gossip.

"I doubt that," I replied harshly, my eyes turning into venomous slits as I hissed my words. Duncan couldn't hurt as much as I did. He was a robot and robots had no emotions. He didn't know what it was like to be repeatedly hurt. He knew the story of what happened with Trent, but he still went and burnt me even more. Duncan didn't have any regards to my feelings and I didn't care about his fake ones. I was the one left with the emotional scars, he was the one left in the limelight of all this.

"Okay, if that's how you feel." Steve shrugged and stood up. I watched him hi-five my cousin from the corner of my eye before leaving. I rolled my head towards Andy, wondering what the hell that was about.

"What'd you get for number five?" She mumbled, knowing that I didn't plan on talking about work. My glare burned into the side of her head until I saw her scrunch her own eyes and sigh in frustration. "Okay, fine, what do you want?"

"How do you even know Steve?" I asked, playing it safe.

"The party, remember?" No. No I did not. "Steve brought the car for you and Duncan, but you left Steve wandering around on my front lawn. So I offered him a ride home a-and...What was I supposed to do, Courtney, sell him for parts?"

"That would have been better than developing a crush on him!" My breath caught in my throat, my head starting to grow dizzy. There was too much going on at once for my liking and I started to feel bile rising from my stomach.

I continued the rest of the day with my head resting on my desks, barely listening to my teachers. They asked if I wanted to head to the nurse, but I didn't. She couldn't do anything for me. I wasn't ill. I was frustrated and confused. The only help I needed was that of a memory eraser-if only they existed.

"Come on, Courtney," I heard Bridgette sigh. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed the final bell. The day had ended and I was so happy to go home. I didn't think I'd be coming in for a few days, not until things had settled for me. Though, that could have been weeks. School was almost over for summer vacation by now, so it made no sense to not finish up. I had missed so much of my junior year already, I couldn't afford much more.

Thoughts of Trent floated around my mind. I wished he was still there with me. None of the past few weeks' events would have happened if he had been still alive. I would have met Duncan, sure, but I would never have fallen for him if my boyfriend was still alive. I had had a gap in my heart that I needed to be filled and Duncan was there for that. Now I had a larger hole that just could not be fixed.

The sun was high in the clear blue sky, the way it always is that time in May. The temperature was rising as the student rush came past in herds of those stereotypical cliques TV shows and movies are always so 'right' about. I noticed a lot of people were stopping to glance towards the parking lot on the way over to the busses. Bridgette reached up on her tip toes, shrugging to say she couldn't see anything. Just as I was about to suggest we forget it, not being interested in whatever it was, Katie started pushing her way through the crowd, DJ and Geoff hot on her trail.

"You may wanna get over there, Courtney," the gossip girl told me, her tiny eyes wide with shock. The boys were looking nervous. My brow knitted together in confusion and curiosity; why does this involve me?

Either way, I broke through in the direction of the not-so-discreet glares my peers were giving. I tried to prepare myself for whatever is on the other side of the crowd, but there was nothing bracing me for what I saw. The black Lamado 2x9 was parked up front with the young teenage owner was perched on the hood, back against the windshield. He looked the same way he had the last time I had met him with a pair of jean cut-offs showing off his hairy legs, tight, black t-shirt showing off his muscular chest, dark ray-bans over his eyes and signature red chucks on his feet. He had one arm tucked behind his head (the green Mohawk still in perfect place) as he faced up to the sun, his free hand toying with his cell phone. Duncan seemed oblivious to his surroundings, just an ordinary teen boy trying to catch some rays. If things were that simple I would be happy. But things were never going to be that simple so my emotions were in a downward heap.

"He knows how to make a scene," Bridgette states, standing beside me now. I saw the smirk rise up on the corners of his lips. Even over the noise of the near two thousand students, Duncan could hear my best friends comment. He obviously took this as a sign that I was near.

Duncan tilted his head down slightly, looking in my direction. His smirk blended into a smile. I didn't smile back, but I kept my eyes locked where his were undoubtedly staring at me. I guess it was a good thing he was wearing the sunglasses; I don't know what I would have done if those crystal blue...blue eyes...they were beautiful, captivating...

"Hey." My own dark eyes refocused on the situation. Duncan was here at school, sitting on the hood of his Lamado that he couldn't drive. Most people had disappeared by now, but there were people with lingering looks.

"Hey," I replied, trying to act as casual as possible. Duncan stared at me, knowing this was progress between us. "What are you doing here?"

Duncan shrugged, kicking his feet under him and sitting up a bit more, "Decided to tag along with Steve." A shadow of a frown crossed his untainted face. "He did offer to drive us off a cliff, but I insisted on not dying until we'd had a chance to talk." Great, the guilt. "Can we talk?"

A/N: Oh my HOLINESS!

What is gonna happen now?

For once...I KNOW!

EEEEEP!

hahahaha!

ACTUALLY! Chapter 18 is already written :O! WHAT?! Uh...Yeah...I accidently wrote chapter 17 to be 3671 words long...OOPSIES! So I decided to split it almost evenly! This chapter is 1,700, next chapter is 1,900...Shnot bad me thinks =P

haha!

ANYWAYS! I hope you guys are enjoying this story...I actually have some questions about its progressions from now on, if ya'll don't mind...

Here are the options;

A) This story finishes with chapter 19 as the epilogue.

So, if you're getting bored of this story now, then we can finish it. Honestly, if no one wants to read then we don't have to.

B) This story finishes with chapter 19 as the epilogue and has a sequel

I have had the sequel planned since before I even started writing this one (CURSE YOU SOPH XD), BUT! It is a known fact that I don't complete many of my sequels...In fact, I can only name two I have...And a gazillion which I have not...So, it's up to ya'll.

C) This story does not finsih with chapter 19 as the epilogue and instead of making a sequel I just prolong this story out further.

Instead of making a sequel and watching it burn, I just add a few of the chapters I had planned into this story and give it a sort of second storyline...Sort of...

Please vote and tell me what ya'll think should happen! The majority vote rules, so make sure you tell me what YOU want to happen to this story! The sooner ya vote the better :D :D :D

ALSO!

I may have a short Andy/Steve oneshot written...Anyone interested in a slight bonus chapter? I TOTALLY SUPPORT ANDY/STEVE!

Thank you to;

Jo9i: I totally agree...I don't know what I'd do if I found out my boyfriend was a robot! haha, oh no, I just wanna slap Courtney and make her pick up the phone ;) hahaha! Thank you :D

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Ah, young love and girly sleepovers! haha! Thanks :D

You dudes rawk!

Love ya'll super much!

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	18. Heart to Ticking Heart

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Heart to Ticking Heart **

Bridgette gave me a nudge and motioned her head towards the busses. They would be leaving soon. I just nodded, hoping she'd understand. Maybe I'd get a ride from Steve, get driven off the cliff along with them. I would have rather that than have this talk with Duncan. It was already awkward, the two of us just staring at each other.

He hadn't changed much. I guess it would have been different if he was human. Duncan didn't have sleepless nights because he was heartbroken; he had sleepless nights because he was a machine. I, on the other hand, still couldn't sleep in the dark, but even my naps during the day no longer worked. I'd try to close my eyes and get some shuteye, but memories would flash before the emptiness of my eyelids and I found myself unable to shake them. I looked dreadful compared to Duncan.

I cupped my hands as Duncan tossed a chain with a few metal shapes attached towards me. I held them up and noticed the square piece of metal that was the Lamado key.

"I had my license suspended two weeks ago," Duncan told me in honesty. "Apparently I was 'drink driving'." I remained expressionless. "I'll be getting it back next week, but until then I need someone else to drive me around everywhere." Duncan slid his feet to the ground, motioning towards the driver's side. Me, Courtney Garcia, drive a Lamado 2x9? This was not something that would happen even in a movie! So I took a quick glance towards the busses that were waiting to depart before pulling the door open. Duncan grinned and did the same.

When a car shuts down the steering wheel retracts into the dashboard. There are all sorts of buttons and screens across the dashboard that are useful for different things. The big orange one brings the steering wheel back out to drive manually. I refuse to drive manually. However, with a Lamado the steering wheel was still sitting in front of me and I began to panic. Duncan knew my fears and simply pushed the wheel backwards, concealing it behind the metal strip with the buttons. I didn't like this car already.

I could feel Duncan watching me as we pulled away from the school. I kept my eyes on the road. I didn't want to talk to him. Well, I did. But I didn't know what to say. And, apparently, neither did he. We sat in complete silence the entire ride to Fern Valley. I don't know why I chose there, I just found myself compelled to drive in that direction. But Duncan said nothing of complaint.

As soon as I parked I was out of that horrible vehicle. Give me my scrappy piece of metal any day over that over-priced piece of junk. Duncan took his time, but followed me over to the edge. Before the big drop there was a small piece of land. I threw my legs over the fence, settling myself on top of it. I stared down. I wasn't afraid of heights, but I sure didn't want to misplace my footing.

"If I fell, would you jump after me?" I asked, turning my attention to Duncan.

He leaned over, looking down at the drop below us, and replied with a simple, "No." I stared at him, my face crinkling under his honesty. "I would run to the bottom to catch you instead." And that made my heart flutter. He cared. Or did he? Robots didn't have feelings to care.

There was more silence, must more awkward than the last batch of it. I was waiting for him to start the conversation. He was the one who wanted to talk; he should have started doing it. I wanted answers. So many questions flooded my mind, but as soon as I opened my mouth to speak it all went dry and I couldn't voice a single word.

"You never answered my calls," he mumbled, no longer looking at me. "I told you I was going to call, but you wouldn't answer me." My heart melted and the guilt washed the remains away. Duncan was sounding like his innocent child self, the one who knew nothing about the big, bad world he was living in. It broke me inside to know I was hurting him.

I lifted my hand to the back of his head, softly rubbing back and fore to let him know I was there for him now.

"I'm sorry, I was scared a-and confused." It was the truth. I was scared and confused. I still was! But my fears were starting to prioritize and I knew I had Duncan's trust too. I may hate robots, but the whole world knew he was different.

"I-I didn't mean for you to find out that way," he continued to speak. "Laura told me I couldn't tell you, but I was going to. I was scared too. I didn't know what you would think. I knew you would hate me, and you do."

"No!" I tried to yell, but it came out as a squeak. "No, no, no, no, no!" I flung my legs back over the fence and gripped his face between my hands. "I could never hate you, Duncan."

"I hate me..." I shook my head, my vision blurring over. "It's not your fault, Court," he added, "none of it is. I know you blame yourself for these bad things, but it is not your fault." The sad reality was that Duncan knew me too well. Of course I blamed myself for this. I should have seen the signs from miles away but I had missed them all. I shouldn't have shunned him out in fear, but listened to what he had to say.

Duncan's eyes were on me again, his sunglasses now tucked away in his jeans pocket. His eyes were as captivating as I remembered. They watched me with intensity and all I wanted to do was throw myself at him.

"Well, you did it," I whispered, pausing to swallow. "You changed the world, just like you said you would." Duncan smiled, but just nodded in agreement. It stung a little. "Talk to me, please," I could barely hear my own voice anymore. It had retreated backwards instead of having the confidence to be outspoken.

"And say what?" Duncan replied, tilting his head to the left. "I don't know what to tell you exactly...It's been all over the news, it's not like you don't know."

"I don't watch the news, or read newspapers, or take any notice of the whispers in school." I told him with more certainty in my voice. Several weeks ago during a Facebook conversation he had told me the exact same thing. He must have remembered too as the smile on his face grew wider.

"Well, hi. My name is Duncan Langieas. I am a robot by definition, loosely based on the NX25 models, but with more of an upgraded system. I am sixteenth out of a line of sixteen different designs, originating from basic robots to whatever you want to say I am in terms of technology. My father, or creator, Paul Langieas created me to find out if it was possible for robots to be more human-like. He thought I was the perfect human with the ability to simulate a few basic human emotions and actions, but it needed to be tested before it was made official. So, with the help of Laura, an old family friend, I was enrolled in the local High school as a test to see if anyone would identify me as a robot. It was supposed to be revealed at the end of the school year, how I do not know. But, after what my father refers to as 'Duncan's idiotic-yet-life-saving heroics' and what my brothers refer to as 'Duncan comes out' happened, it was revealed a lot sooner than expected. Are you still with me?" I nodded, but this was a hell of a lot to take in all at once. But Duncan took it as a good sign and continued, "Well, during my time in High school it was discovered that I was a lot more human that what was originally assumed. I really am everything a human is, except for what's inside.

"I have lied to you on several occasions and I want to apologize for that. I do not sleep, I do not eat. I have fifteen brothers, not one. I told you I only had one because it seemed more plausible than saying fifteen, I chose Antoine because he is probably my favorite brother. My house is just plain chaos, but I quite like it that way. The morning when I didn't come see you I was in deactivation mode so my dad could run some tests and my battery was recharging. Yes, I do run on batteries. Steve didn't break my toe, he actually pulled it off. My brothers always do that. That ticking noise doesn't help me heart, it is my heart. Though, I wasn't lying when I said without it I would die. I was also telling the truth when I said I hate robots. The normal ones with only basic circuitries, I mean. They are hollow and weird and I just don't like them. And, every single time I told you I love you, I was telling the truth. I love you."

I don't know how long I stayed staring at him, but I know it was long enough for Duncan to start to worry. He was rocking back and fore on his heels, making me kind of sea sick, by the time I decided to open my mouth.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, not even blinking anymore. Duncan raised an eyebrow at me. "Me and you," I said, hoping he would get what I meant. "Is this even legal?!"

Duncan nodded ferociously, determined to make sure I knew, "I checked. There are no laws against it." I continued to stare until Duncan's eyes lit up. "Wait, what? D-Do you-? Are you-?" Duncan's mouth hung low, trying to process my words. "Y-You still wan-want to...?"

"Be your girlfriend?" I finished for him, a sly smirk on my face. I enjoyed making him speechless. "Of course I do, stupid! I still love you. Yes, you lied and you deserve to have more of your toes ripped off for that. And yes, you are a robot, something which I highly despise. And yes, things are so complicated right now that I am considering throwing myself over the edge, and-and-and-" It was a good thing pushed his lips against mine right then, I was starting to babble like an idiot. It was our first kiss since our quickie in the woods. I would have thought Duncan would have started off slow, testing the waters first. But no. My mouth was open from speaking and his tongue used that to its advantage. I locked my lips and sucked, my hands pulling him closer to me. I missed him. I missed all of him.

"You're doing that thing again," Duncan whispered while I panted.

"What thing?"

"That thing that makes me wish you would just shut up." I smiled, resting my forehead against Duncan's. "We'll make this work," he kissed my nose, "I promise."

A/N: When the tears come streaming down your face...

Yeah, that's what is going on with me right now. I'm having a very emotional few hours. THIS STORY DOES NOT HELP :crying:

There was a lot of references to earlier chapters in this...Was anyone awake? ;)

ANYWAY!

Looks like things aren't too bad for Duncan and Courtney right now...Which leads me back to a question I asked YESTERDAY!

Here are the options;

A) This story finishes with chapter 19 as the epilogue.

So, if you're getting bored of this story now, then we can finish it. Honestly, if no one wants to read then we don't have to.

B) This story finishes with chapter 19 as the epilogue and has a sequel

I have had the sequel planned since before I even started writing this one (CURSE YOU SOPH XD), BUT! It is a known fact that I don't complete many of my sequels...In fact, I can only name two I have...And a gazillion which I have not...So, it's up to ya'll.

C) This story does not finsih with chapter 19 as the epilogue and instead of making a sequel I just prolong this story out further.

Instead of making a sequel and watching it burn, I just add a few of the chapters I had planned into this story and give it a sort of second storyline...Sort of...

Please vote and tell me what ya'll think should happen! The majority vote rules, so make sure you tell me what YOU want to happen to this story! The sooner ya vote the better :D :D :D

I feel like no one cares enough to vote...And if no one cares, then this story will not be continuing on for very much longer. A chapter. An epilogue, I guess. If you do not want that to happen, say so!

Would it help if I laid down some BASIC! VERY BASIC! plot and chapter ideas going on?

The second half of the story is focusing more on Duncan and Courtney's relationship. Having to deal with friends and family, press and media. They discover that things aren't as easy with a robot as it is with a human...Teenagers have urges, right? ;)

There will be another party, but one quite different to Andy's. I also have a scene where on a summer night D, C and their friends head down for a midnight swim at the lake. And, most importantly, Courtney learns more about robots...

I'm alos considering introducing ya'll to Duncan's other 14 brothers. You;ve met Steve, you know about Antoine...And the rest? Mwahahaha! But that's just a thought. May not go through with it.

...Has that helped?

Thank you to;

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm: Talk and get back together, CHECK! Yeah...That is all great and what not,, but it sounds like a Disney movie. And no, there is nothing wrong with that, but it's not the way that I want this story to plan out. It's too perfect for me. I still have ups and downs and all that to go through...Plus, I don't see Andy and Steve ever getting together...Thank you (:

kutiekat44: I don't want this story to end, either...But it will have to eventually. Thanks (:

Jo9i: haha! That is a fair point; it isn't his fault for being a robot. Thank you (:

Lil Kim fan: I take it you like it :D Thanks (:

You guys...

I love you, I really do...

Thanks for reading, please review (:

Love, Miss C. Rhiannon X


	19. Epilogue: The Rest of Forever

**Of Cogs and Teenage Boys**

**Epilogue**

**The Rest of Forever**

I could feel his smile on the back of my neck. It was one of my favorite feelings.

"Good morning, beautiful," his words were purred into my ear. I rolled onto my back, staring up at his face looking down at me. It was amazing to wake up to him every morning. "I think we have five minutes before-" but it was too late, we heard the bedroom door slam against the wall and tiny feet padded across the floor towards us. "Oh no," Duncan cried as the little girl climbed on top of him. He faked being pinned down and smiled up at our daughter.

"I win, daddy!" She cried, her words becoming laughter as Duncan held her in his hands, throwing her up into the air.

Life had not been easy for us, but those little moments made it all worthwhile. We were still in the eye of the media because Duncan was still one of a kind. Dr. Langieas had done what he had set out to do: create a robot that could pass as human. He retired from the robot designing business and now only builds for himself.

High school was hard after the news of mine and Duncan's relationship went viral. He was a robot, I was a human. No one had ever heard of it before. But I was happy. Happier than I had been in a long time. I still remember Trent; I still miss him every day. But, as Duncan puts it, Trent took care of me because Duncan couldn't and now Duncan takes care of me because Trent can't. It's like a tag team. A very bizarre tag team.

But after I graduated High school and left that world behind, I moved an hour away to a college in Toronto. Duncan followed. So did the paparazzi. We lived together in a small apartment. Duncan wasn't allowed an education or a job, but he was more than happy without either. He refused to let me work, either, saying I had my studies to dedicate myself to. Paul paid for everything, which I felt terribly guilty about, but he insisted.

It wasn't until I turned twenty-one did I start to question our relationship. It was as if I woke up one morning and saw that I was getting older. Duncan was immortally sixteen. I cried, I complained, I screamed, I yelled. Duncan took it all, comforting me and coming up with a solution. So, now, every year the day after Duncan's birthday (October 15th, the day he was first activated), he spends a few hours with his father who ages him with whatever technology he has. It was strange the first time, to see him jump from sixteen to twenty-one, but I never regret it. I never regret a thing anymore. Laura helped me overcome my issues. I can't say they are completely gone, but I'm better now than I ever have been.

"PANCAKES!" Kayleigh squealed in delight as Duncan put the plate down in front of the three-year-old. He had become a full time house husband, doing the whole cooking and cleaning thing while I worked full time at a Law firm, just like my parents always wanted. I haven't spoken to my parents since I got married. I haven't spoken to Bridgette since High school and Andy is...well, Andy is still her usual self. She visits every so often, always bring presents for Kayleigh. She lives her auntie Andy, along with her many uncles.

I just drifted away from my old life in Muskoka after High school. Nothing there was worth going back to. Duncan and I decided to stay in Toronto after I graduated. It was the day I graduated he proposed. He took me back the ice rink where we had our first date. It was like something out of a fairytale. We married a year later. Not officially, that is actually against the law (I am working on changing it), but we exchanged rings, threw a party and I changed my name. We're as married as we'll ever need to be.

"What you doing?" A sly voice whispered into my ear.

"Just thinking," I replied with a content smile, my eyes still staring down at the napping child on the sofa. It was two years after we got married did I first bring up the subject of children. It was touchy for Duncan, knowing he couldn't perform his part in the baby-making process. We discussed sperm donors, but it was too unfair. We settled for adoption. It took another year, but five weeks after our three year anniversary, we brought home three month old Kayleigh Langieas.

"Life's good," I told my husband, turning in his arms. I leaned up for a kiss.

"I love you," Duncan replied. And I finally knew he meant it.

A/N: How sweet ^^

Some cute DxCness for Valentine's Day, right? haha!

This story has been so amazing to write...It was such a favorite idea of mine from the start and...You guys have helped me make this awesome ^^

Thank you to;

Pinkpsychoprincess

kutiekat44

TheGirlWithTheGoldenShadow

KlaineLuneville

EmmaTheHomicidalSquid

Jo9i

123

KawaiiChibi-tan

ThatSuperHotSexyBookWorm

Beaufale

IGotAStoryToTell

Lil Kim fan

baabaaer

You guys are...the definition of AMAZING!

I love you all and I hope you keep reading all my other stories also (:

Wow...This is the end...

Thank you ever so much for reading and please, for one last time, review (:

Love ChloeRhiannonX


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